Dreams
by xodramionexo
Summary: Harry and Ron have left to find Horcruxes, leaving both Ginny and Hermione behind. Both Ginny and Hermione deal with this conflict in different ways. Along the way, many rumors are spread around school, leaving Hermione distraught and feeling very alone. She becomes very close to George Weasley and also starts to form an odd relationship with none other than Draco Malfoy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

First Dream

Hermione crept forward in the dark hallway, trying to remain calm. She placed her hand on the cold stone and carefully lurked around the corner. Her vision was a bit distorted but she could make out shadows and she could hear whispers. Pushing on against her better judgement, she let out a short breath. Without time to react, Hermione was pulled backwards and shoved up against the wall. Her mouth opened as she gasped.

"D-Draco," She finally said.

He towered over her, with his hands tightly grasped around her wrists. She was pinned down beneath him, with no escape. Staring darkly down at her, his breath danced along her skin making a chill run down her spine. Hermione flinched as his grip became tighter. When had he become so strong and forceful? Her eyes fell to the ground and she tried to catch her breath. Then she slowly looked up at him, with trembling lips.

"Draco," Hermione repeated as she tried to get lose, but she was too weak.

Draco pushed on her more harshly against the wall and leaned closer in. Hermione could have sworn that she was suffocating underneath his grip. But before she could protest and push him away (or at least attempt to), he moved even closer. His lips pressed against hers and she fell limp to his touch. He pulled away for a split second to see her expression which was completely unreadable. She tried to form words, but she was too confused to speak. So without hesitation, he kissed her again. This time his hands released her wrists and searched for her face which he now held in his hands. Hermione pushed him away roughly and gave him a stern look.

Carefully, he watched her and tried to do or say something to ease the tension. But nothing came to mind so they both stood there silently. Hermione slapped Draco harshly across the face before storming down the hallway in anger. Draco sighed under his breath as he laid his head on the wall, looking down at the floor. He looked to his side after a few moments to see that she was gone. As he recollected his thoughts, he looked down once more to the floor before looking back up to the hallway which was no longer empty.

"Granger?" He questioned.

There she stood, in front of him. Her arms were crossed, and she looked upset more than angry. She had watery eyes as she tried to speak. But her voice failed her and so instead she stood silent. Draco waited for her to blow up and go off on him, but to his surprise she didn't. Instead she grabbed a hold of shirt and pulled him close to her. He gawked at her, not knowing what exactly to expect or what to do. But she stood up tall enough to reach his face and she kissed him.

A gasp broke the silence for the night. Hermione laid upright in bed, trying to catch her breath. Ginny stirred, hearing the noises she had made. Quickly, she turned on the lamp and turned to see Hermione. At this point she was panting and trying to rest her head in her hand. She bit her lip anxiously as she looked at her friend who sat next to her.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"Just a dream, that's all," Hermione sighed, standing from the bed.

"Was it about the boys?" Ginny wondered.

By this of course Ginny meant Ron and Harry. Both girls hadn't heard or seen the boys for weeks. They set out to find horcruxes. However, with doing so they left Hermione behind along with Ginny. Hermione knew that they wouldn't have taken Ginny no matter what. They all knew it was far too dangerous, but she couldn't help but to be a bit hurt when they left without her. Sure, she would need to stay to protect Ginny and the others, and yeah she needed to do more research to help Harry out, but it still stung.

"No, it wasn't." Hermione took a deep breath, "I just-I guess I'm just sort of confused that's all."

"Well, it was just a dream." Ginny assured her.

Hermione fell back asleep about an hour later. She wasn't quite sure how long she'd been asleep or if she had dreamt anymore, but if she did she certainly didn't remember it. As footsteps got closer and voices entered her ears, she tossed and turned. It couldn't be morning just yet, she felt like she hadn't slept much at all. But a touch on her shoulder woke her.

"Hermione," A voice called her name.

She swirled around to see who it was, but at first she only saw a blur. It was a tall figure, thin yet broad. He had orange hair with familiar features. Hermione's heart began pounding and then dropped. Tears almost came to her eyes, but then her sight became clearer. As she reached out as if to touch to boy, she was able to see it was George-not Ron.

"Hermione," He repeated, "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"Yeah, for a second I think I did," Hermione sat up and took a deep breath. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't catch her breath.

"Well we have to be at the train station in an hour, so you should probably start getting ready." George cleared his throat.

"Of course, right, thank you," Hermione nodded in agreement, getting out of bed.

"Hermione are you sure you're alright?" George turned.

Their eyes met for a moment and she remained silent. More than anything she hated to lie, especially to the ones she loved and cared for. George had done so much for her these past few weeks. Really, all of the Weasley's had done so much for her. They provided her with a place to stay where she felt welcome. On the same note, Hermione didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her or pity her. Plus, it seemed logical that she wouldn't be doing alright. For Heaven's sake, her best friends were out on their own. So given that, George already knew the answer to that question.

"I will be," Hermione carefully breathed before leaving the room.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hey, I hoped you liked the first chapter of Dreams. I promise you it gets better and more interesting. This was sort of a starter chapter, so please continue reading! Thank you so much!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hogwarts

The train was more crowded than Hermione had expected. It had been odd staying at Ron's house for the past few weeks since he wasn't there. But it seemed even stranger sitting on the train on the way to Hogwarts without Ron or Harry. They rode together since first year. She smiled softly remembering when she met the boys. They were stuffing their faces full of candy and other treats from the trolley. She remembered how Ron had some kind of dirt on his nose. Looking around now, she saw that she was alone in the compartment. Ginny had went on to sit with her other friends.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Luna appeared at the door.

"No, of course," Hermione smiled at her friend, "I thought you would be sitting with Ginny,"

"Her compartments full," Luna sat down across from her. "So how are they doing?"

"Who?" Hermione questioned.

"Harry and Ron," Luna answered.

"I-uh, I don't know. They haven't sent any letters, or tried to-we just haven't heard from them." Hermione shifted in an uncomfortable way.

"What about you?" Luna wondered.

"What about me?" Hermione's eyes shot back up to the girl.

"How are you doing?" Luna laughed.

"I've seen better days," Hermione looked down at her lap and then looked out the window.

"I heard this year, Mrs. McGonagall wants to have a dance." Luna changed the subject. "Maybe if you have time you could join the committee." She paused again, but Hermione didn't answer. "This year they are really dedicated to keeping everyone on a happy note."

"You mean distract them from reality?" Hermione asked. "That's great, let's just let everyone forget that you-know-who is out there getting stronger day by day and let's just tell them that everything will be fine and they'll be safe because we're at Hogwarts where nothing can harm us, right?"

Luna seemed to be at a loss of words. She let out a small breath as she twiddled her thumbs. Hermione looked out the window for quite some time. She knew what she said was harsh and uncalled for, but it was the godforsaken truth. It was a lie to think that they would all be safe for much longer. So many terrible things had happened over the past years and it would only continue to get worse until the very end. Hermione sighed softly as her attention turned toward the door.

"Mind if I join?" George appeared.

"I was actually on my way out," Luna nervously stood up from the seat and left the compartment.

"You must be in a terrible mood," George sat down.

"Why do you say that?" Hermione crossed her arms in a defensive way.

"Because that's the first time I've ever seen Luna look the slightest bit uncomfortable." He laughed, making Hermione smile. "Ah, there's the smile I've been missing." He rested his head against the wall. "You think it's going to be an interesting year?"

"Yeah, it certainly will," Hermione nodded.

The two talked for quite some time until eventually they fell asleep. Hermione woke to a crowded walkway and the usual loud noises of the station. She pushed her head off of George's lap and he lifted his arms from around her. Quickly, she grabbed her suitcase and left the compartment with George close behind. Hermione shuffled through a group of kids trying to squeeze through the door four at a time. As she finally stepped off the train, Hermione looked around at her classmates. There were plenty of old friends and a lot of new faces as well. Her eyes scanned over the students, until they finally caught the eyes of someone else's. They were silver grey and stared right through her. Trying to resist the urge to run, Hermione felt her heart begin to race. Closing her eyes momentarily, she could remember her dream too perfectly...Draco's breath tingling her skin, the force gripped on her wrists, all of it came flooding back.

"Hermione?" Someone caught her off guard.

"Uh," She opened her eyes, "Oh, Neville, you scared me,"

"Yeah, well you scared me. I thought you were going to be road kill if you stood in front of the exit any longer." He smiled as the two began walking. "So where's Harry and Ron?"

"Um, they aren't going to be here for a while," Hermione brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I see. Hermione, is everything okay? I mean-are they going to be okay?" Neville wondered.

"Neville, I really honestly know just as much as you do," Hermione sighed, "Listen, I'll catch up with you at dinner, okay?"

"Of course, see you," Neville nodded before walking away.

* * *

After Hermione put her suitcase where it belonged, she walked down to the Gryffindor common room. Almost everyone had left and went to the Great Hall, but Hermione decided that she would get a head start on her research so she headed off to the library. She paced the familiar hallways until she eventually found herself surrounded by books. Although it was only a while of being gone, Hermione had felt as though she'd been away for a lifetime.

She was glad that she was alone, it would help clear her mind and allow her to focus on what she really needed. Skimming the books with her index finger, she searched for keywords and authors. Eventually she was in the section of horcruxes and other such things. Hermione really didn't know what she would do if she found any more important facts about this topic. It's not as though she could just write a letter to Ron and Harry or go to them even. The bottom line was that she had no idea where they were or how to help. But doing something that might give her more clues or ideas made her feel closer to them, though in reality it changed absolutely nothing. Biting her lip anxiously, she pulled a large book from the shelf and skimmed the first few pages.

"Granger?"

"Draco," Hermione swerved around, recognizing the voice.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same," Hermione noted.

"I'm not in the mood to play games, mudblood," He snarled.

"That makes two of us," Hermione snapped as she put the book away.

"Alright, enough of this. Answer my question, Granger." Draco put his hands against the shelves, locking Hermione in between his arms.

"It's none of your business," Hermione said fiercely. Draco grabbed onto her shoulders tightly and pushed her to the ground. "I'm not afraid of you, Malfoy." Hermione angrily said.

Draco towered over her in such a manner it gave Hermione mixed feelings. He ran his hand along her face gently and then he entangled his fingers in her hair. Hermione was completely captured as she was once before. She tried to fight him off, but it was no use. His lips moved across her neck as she kicked her feet in dismay. Crying out for help, Hermione tried yanking away, but again, she was too weak and powerless. Draco's kisses muffled out her crying and made her sobs quieter. After a few more moments of the two squirming around, he eventually lifted away from her a bit.

"Granger, stay with me." Draco said.

"What?" Hermione was in a daze.

"Stay with me, please, I'm begging you," He looked like a child pleading to get his way.

"Get away from me!" She shouted as she tried pushing him away.

"Hermione? Hermione, aren't you coming down for dinner?" Ginny's voice woke Hermione up from her dreaming.

"Wha-oh, oh God," Hermione breathed heavy as she found herself laying on the couch in the common room.

"Another dream?" Ginny wondered.

"Yeah, not the same one, but close to it." Hermione sighed.

"You coming?" Ginny asked.

"No, I'm fine," Hermione pulled her hair back in a bun as she sat down in front of the fire. Ginny left and for a long time, Hermione thought that she was alone. But after about an hour, George sat down beside her.

"Hey," George smiled.

"Hi," Hermione responded.

"Can we talk?" George asked.

"Of course," Hermione turned to him, realizing this was something rather important.

"How are you doing?" George gave her a serious look.

"Well-I'm okay, I guess. I mean considering the given situation. And yourself?"

"I'm not good at all. I can't think straight, or eat, or talk to most of my friends, or focus, or sleep-I'm just really screwed up right now," George opened up.

"It's going to be okay," Hermione put her hand on his lap in a reassuring gesture. "They'll come back, George."

"Yeah, I know. It's just ridiculous. They run off and they don't send any letters, they don't try to keep in contact, they weren't even thinking, were they?" George seemed a bit angry. "How can they just get up and leave without making a better, safer plan? How could they just not tell us about it? They just left a stupid note in the kitchen saying they'd be gone for a while. Who does that?"

"George-it's okay," Hermione tried to calm him down.

"No it's not okay! It's not okay at all! They're going off by themselves and they're going to get blown up!" George screamed. "So no, it's not okay at all!"

"George please calm down, just listen to me." Hermione breathed.

"How do we not know that this wasn't just Voldemort's plan? Huh? Maybe this was his way of getting to Harry at his weakest-when he's almost completely alone? And then it's all over-all of it is over!"

"Stop!" Hermione yelled.

"And how are you not bloody mad, Hermione? They just left you! They need you, Hermione. How could you just let them go without you? How could you do that? They're your friends for Heaven's sake!" George said in frustration and then stopped. He was now trying to catch his breath as he looked down at Hermione.

"How could you say that?" Hermione questioned softly in a meek manner. "I found out the same time you did. How do you think I feel? Do you not think I would have gone and done absolutely everything in my power to help if I could? Do you honestly think for even a split second that I would chose to be here, all alone, by myself, away from them?"

She stood up hastily with her fists clenched. Tears spilled out over her eyelids and fell down her face. Her chest heaved upwards and downwards. Maybe she was just sensitive-more so than usual. But his words still cut into her. She had to admit that lately her guard had been down for the most part.

"Hermione, I'm sorry," George stood up and walked towards her, "I didn't mean it like that, okay?" I'm sorry, really, terribly sorry."

"I am angry," Hermione broke down completely, "I am so sodding angry that I am numb! I don't know what to do or how to act because I am alone! And they left me here, okay?"

George placed his arms around her and held her close. She still cried but now against his chest. Hermione gripped onto him tightly as if her legs would give way at any moment. He rested his chin on top of her head and tried hard not to shed a few tears himself. But mostly, he hurt at the moment because he had really upset Hermione to the point that she was crying.

"I'm sorry," He repeated, "I was just upset and I wasn't thinking. I just needed to feel something. I didn't mean it, Hermione."

"I know you didn't." Hermione nodded.

The two sat down on the couch in front of the fire and talked all night. It wasn't until midnight when Hermione finally decided to crawl up into her bed. Compared to the past few nights, this one was pretty good. When she woke up the next morning she couldn't remember much of her dreams which put her at ease. Hermione quickly got up and got ready for the day.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! I hope you liked the second chapter! Again, it was still a bit of a setting up chapter, so the story really hasn't begun yet. I really hope I was still able to keep you interested though. I hope you'll want to read the next chapter which I'll be adding sometime a bit later today. (Sorry if this chapter was a bit boring, but I really want to get the concept across that George and Hermione are actually becoming really close and that they are both tremendously affected by what is going on.)

Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Hermione sat alone in class, being that she really didn't want to sit anywhere new or honestly make much conversation with anyone. It seemed like anyone who did talk to her was trying to find out information on Harry and Ron. Not only was it getting old to explain that she really didn't know much of their activity, but she was also trying to keep a low key being that they were doing something a bit dangerous and secretive. She flipped through her books before class started and tried to think about anything but the given situation. Placing her hand against her forehead, Hermione turned around to see Draco walking into the classroom a few minutes late. She was surprised to see that he walked in alone instead of the normal group which followed him around.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you have an excuse for your lateness?" Professor Slughorn asked.

"No," Draco sat down roughly in his chair.

"I'm sorry, maybe you're used to Snape being overly gracious to you because of your family's status and your particular house, but you should know that now that I am a potions teacher, I do plan to keep every student at the same standard regardless of such things and this behavior will not be tolerated in my class." Slughorn held his head up high.

Draco stared right through the Professor and then looked around the room. His eyes caught Hermione's and the two stared at one another for quite some time. She breathed lightly as her eyes examined him. He looked much like he had in her recent dreams. But he had grown taller and broader than what she had remembered. He looked more much like a man than a boy, though his actions proved differently.

"What are you staring at, mudblood?" Draco muttered when Slughorn turned away.

"I'm assuming what's left of your dignity," Hermione shot back.

"Oh, look who's finally grown some—

"Shove it, Malfoy," Hermione interrupted him.

Hermione turned around and stayed facing away from him. This made it even more aggravating. He was far more annoying and arrogant that she had remembered. All of these dreams she had been having seemed even more pointless now. A small piece of her had hoped that somewhere deep down he would have some sort of decency this year, but he seemed much the same. She took a deep breath as she tried to catch up with the rest of the lesson.

* * *

After classes that day, Hermione went to the Great Hall. She saw Ginny and was relieved that she wouldn't have to sit alone. But as she approached, Ginny quickly got up and left. Hermione stood for a minute trying to understand what had just happened. Ginny had clearly seen her. Had she done something wrong?

"Can I sit with you?" Hermione asked George who was sitting with Fred.

"Of course," George smiled.

"Good day of classes, Hermione?" Fred questioned in a polite way.

"Yeah, you?" Hermione put her hands on the table in front of her.

"Yeah. Actually, I just remembered I have a lot of homework, so I'm going to get started on it." Fred was quick to get up and leave.

"Is there a reason why no one wants to talk to me?" Hermione bit her lip as she turned to face George.

"I think they're just-it's nothing." George shook his head.

"Tell me," Hermione demanded.

"It's just-okay, listen. People have been talking and there's rumors going around that you know more about Ron and Harry than you're letting on. They think that you know where they are and their plans." George whispered.

"That's ridiculous!" Hermione cried. "Absolute rubbish!" She stood from the table and left the Great Hall making a bit of a scene.

She made it out to the hall before needing to rest against the wall for support. Trying to regain both focus and strength, she put her back against the wall and closed her eyes. People constantly talked about the trio and this certainly wasn't the first time that she'd heard a nasty rumor. But this particular one churned in her stomach and made her feel sick. Why would anyone say such a thing?

"Granger," Draco appeared in the quiet, empty hallway.

"Draco," Hermione opened her eyes.

"Just what were you trying to prove in class today? What? Now that Potter and Weasel left you think all of a sudden you're not just a little side kick?" Draco's eyes narrowed down on her.

"I am no one's sidekick, Malfoy." Hermione said angrily.

"You're right, you're not anymore, are you? That's why he took Weasel Bee and not you." Draco snickered.

Hermione stood frozen for a few moments.

"That was low, even for you."

"Oh stop, my heart be still," Draco put his hand on his chest.

"You know, absolutely nothing has changed about you. This year everything is different, but you're still the same." Hermione crossed her arms.

"Can't help it, wouldn't want to disappoint," Draco said half laughing.

"Disappoint? It's not like you really have a fan club following you around anymore, Draco. What happened to Crab and Goyle? Or what about that Pansy girl?" Hermione suddenly seemed a bit interested in the conversation.

"I'd rather not waste my breath explaining this to a mudblood, like yourself," He snapped as he turned away.

"I lied," Hermione said, pushing herself off the wall and turning towards the boy who was now walking away.

"Yeah?" Draco turned, pretending as though he wasn't the least bit curious.

"You have changed," Hermione quickly turned and left Draco standing alone.

* * *

The next few weeks had past and nothing seemed to really change. George was the only one really speaking to her still. Ginny ignored Hermione every time she tried to speak which angered her more than anything. At this point, she felt like giving up. Lately her dreams had been coming back, different yet all along the same lines. She also had seen Draco from time to time and they bickered constantly. Hermione was beginning to think that he was becoming rather lonely.

"Hermione?"

"Hm?" She blinked, turning away from the fire to see George.

"You're spaced out today," He noted, looking back to his books.

"Sorry," She rubbed her forehead. "So did you finish the equations?"

"I finished the equations an hour ago. I've moved onto this," He sighed as he pointed to a new page in his book. "You should go to bed. Really, I can do this by myself, plus I'm almost done anyway."

"If you stop now then you won't finish it," Hermione looked over at George in a playful manner.

"Yeah, probably not. But hey, that's not a bad thing. If my grades start picking up, Mum will start expecting me to continue to maintain them." He started laughing and Hermione joined in.

"I am really tired, actually. I think I'll head off to bed," She stood up from the floor.

"Right," He nodded, "Oh, Hermione,"

"Yes?" She turned around to see the red head.

"The dance is coming up, this weekend. I was wondering if you'd go with me." George carefully said.

"Oh, I wasn't planning on going actually." Hermione stated, "It uh-it just wouldn't feel right given the time and all."

"Of course, yeah, I understand." George nervously said, trying to blow it off though it was easy to tell that he had been a bit hurt by the rejection.

"But um, if you are going and you don't have a date I guess I could go with you." Hermione quickly said. "I mean, we are friends after all, right?"

"Yeah, yeah we are." He smiled brightly, the same way Ron used to when the two agreed on something.

Hermione fell asleep pretty quickly that night though in the morning she didn't feel too well rested. She dreamt about Draco all night and she couldn't get him off of her mind. Hermione woke to find that she would be late for class because she had overslept. She muttered a few words under her breath in anger that Ginny wouldn't have tried to wake her up. Quickly, she got dressed and rushed to potions. As she entered the class, everyone turned to face her. Slughorn gave her a stern look, but said nothing as she found her seat.

"Granger? Late? Hell must be freezing over," Draco muttered just loud enough for Hermione to hear.

"Do you talk just to hear yourself?" Hermione glanced over at him.

"Do you live just to annoy me?" Draco leaned over his desk.

"Real mature," She said through her teeth.

"Likewise,"

"You know you're insults are getting a bit pathetic-too predictable," Hermione bit the tip of her tongue.

"Excuse me, are you two done or should I delay my class even longer?" Slughorn cleared his throat.

"Sorry, sir," Hermione became silent.

"The two of you, stay after class." He said before starting his lesson.

After class, the two stayed seated and waited patiently. Hermione's heart raced, she hated getting into trouble, especially since her best friends weren't with her. It was one thing if they all three had gotten into trouble trying to find something or do something that was important. But here she was for no good reason expect that she let the enemy really get to her this time. The boys' absence was really getting to her and it was messing with her. Carefully, Hermione stood from her desk.

"Granger, I would expect more from you." Slughorn said, "Seeing Draco's behavior doesn't surprise me, but this? This isn't you Ms. Granger and I really do hope you fix whatever problems that you're dealing with right now. Whatever it is, it's got you acting irrational. Now for your punishment," He cleared his throat. "You will both be serving a week's worth of detention. You will both report to my classroom after your classes and spend an hour sitting here thinking of your actions. Now, go to your next classes,"

Hermione quickly grabbed her bags and left the room. She made it to the hall before a tear fell from her eye. What had gotten into her? It wasn't like her to get this crazy about remarks that Draco makes. He wasn't anyone to her anyway, right? Lately she had been acting childish, and well irrational, just like Slughorn had said. She felt ashamed because she had no excuse despite of being lonely.

"You're not crying, are you Granger?" Draco neared her. She turned away, embarrassed that she had been.

"Leave me alone," Hermione tried to stop but her body still heaved up and down.

"It's just detention, Granger, not the end of the world." He crossed her arms, "Trust me, if it was I would not be spending my last few moments with you,"

He waited for her comeback, but she didn't even try. She just stood there, turned towards the wall still crying. It made him feel uncomfortable to his surprise. He honestly thought that this would be a moment he could take pleasure in seeing, but it brought him no happiness. A bit roughly, he grabbed Hermione's shoulder and turned her around. Her back was now pressed up against the wall as she still whimpered.

"Stop bloody crying," He told her.

"I said leave me alone!" Hermione said a bit more loudly.

"Shut up, Granger!" He pulled away from her, looking around to make sure they were still alone. "You know, you've changed too. This year you've reached a whole new level of pathetic. Constantly crying, separating yourself from everyone else…it's ridiculous. It's not that big of a damn deal, but you sure are milking the cow aren't you?"

"I would make a smart remark to that but I can't get over the fact that you just used that reference. That's a-a muggle reference." Hermione stopped crying the best that she could.

"I read it in a book, one time. I don't even know what it bloody means." Draco mentioned, "There see, that's all it took to make you stop blubbering."

"I wasn't blubbering," Hermione shook her head in disagreement.

"Sorry, _sulking_."

"I wasn't sulking either!" Hermione cried out.

* * *

Hermione folded her shirts as she put some away in her suitcase. The only other person in the dormitory was Ginny who was trying on a new pair of shoes. After clearing her throat, Hermione shut the suitcase and leaned against the railing of her bed.

"Those look nice," Hermione noted aloud.

Ginny turned to Hermione, shocked that she would say something. She just stood there for a split second staring and then she went back to walking around the room.

"Ginny, when are you going to start speaking to me again? I've done nothing wrong," Hermione sighed.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Hermione." Ginny turned to face her.

"Believe in me, I'm your friend after all." Hermione cried, "Or at least I thought I was until all of this came about."

"It's all just shady, okay? What everyone's saying-it just makes sense." Ginny shook her head.

"No, it doesn't make any sense at all. First off, you would know, I don't keep anything from you." Hermione explained, "Do you not think that if I knew I would do something more than I'm doing right now?"

"Honestly Hermione, I have no idea," Ginny said.

"Ginny look at me," Hermione demanded and Ginny obeyed. "I do not know where they are, I do not know how much progress they've made if any, I do not know if they're coming back or not, and I know absolutely nothing of their plans. If my word isn't good enough then I'm sorry there's nothing else I can say. But I wouldn't lie to you and the fact that you're actually listening to all these stupid rumors, is absurd. You and I should be closer than ever right now. We're going through the same thing, Ginny."

"I know, Hermione. You're right, I've been acting absurd. I'm just so confused. You know what, let's just not talk about it right now, okay?" Ginny looked at her friend in a defeated way.

"Sure, of course. Are you going to the dance?" Hermione changed the subject.

"I've been debating. Neville asked Luna, so that's out of the question. Not that I like him or anything but he'd at least be a safe option." Ginny pulled her hair back behind her shoulders.

"What about Dean? The boys been eyeing you," Hermione suggested.

"He's not really a safe option." Ginny laughed, "I mean, if he asks, I'll go but I don't know."

"Yeah," Hermione understood where she was coming from.

"Are you going?" Ginny looked over with a curious face.

"Yeah, George asked me to go with him." Hermione replied.

"George who?" Ginny wondered.

"George Weasley," Hermione laughed, "You know…you're brother?"

"No, no that's not a safe option, you can't go with him. That's a very bad idea, that's not okay. That's not a safe option, that's a dangerous one." Ginny hit Hermione with a pillow.

"How could it be dangerous? George knows how I feel about him so it's not bad or anything." Hermione defended herself.

"No, that's bad, like really bad. Plus, that's just weird." Ginny shook her head, "Cancel with him, fake sick."

"Ginny, what bothers you about that?" Hermione asked, "If Ron was here I'd go with him. George and I are strictly friends."

"But people have been talking-saying that you two are-"

"That we're what? More than friends?" Hermione questioned, crossing her arms.

"Hermione, you'd only be giving them what they want." Ginny said in a soft tone.

"I'm sick of all these rumors. But even more than that-I'm sick of how all of my so called friends are acting because of them. You are not cowards, so I wish you would all start acting more mature!" Hermione cried.

"Hermione-

"No, you know that if Harry and Ron were here you wouldn't care what everyone else was saying." Hermione hastily left the room and made her way to the common room, where she bumped into George.

"Hermione," He smiled, "Are you okay?"

"Can we go somewhere?" Hermione asked him, "Alone?"

* * *

Authors Notes:

Hey! I hope you liked the third chapter of Dreams! Hopefully this was a good way to introduce Draco Malfoy. I'm really excited about putting this chapter up because I think it really sets up the story line for the beginning. Please keep reading and I hope you're enjoying it so far!

Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Room of Requirements

The Room of Requirements was much as she remembered it. George cleared his throat as he glanced around. Hermione sat down on a trunk which stood nearby in the corner of the room. She let out a soft breath and thought about her day which seemed long and tiring. After wandering around for a bit longer, George sat down next to her. He stared at the ground for quite some time, almost afraid that she was going to explain to him just why she wouldn't be able to go to the dance with him, but instead she wanted to talk about other things.

"I'm sorry, I just really need to get away from everything." Hermione explained herself.

"Yeah, I get it. Hermione," George decided to bring it up since it was an inevitable conversation anyway, "Have you heard the rumors?"

"Some of them, and I really don't care to hear any more of them." She placed her hand in her lap.

"I mean about you and I," George clarified himself, to make sure they were talking about the same thing.

"Yes," She whispered. George watched her closely. She was so apprehensive and hesitant. Her lips were cold-almost blue. Nervously she fiddled with her fingers as if to distract herself from the awkward tension in the room. It hurt him to see her in such a distraught way. Hermione was always the organized, intelligent one who always had it all together. But she was becoming a literal mess and George had no idea exactly how to fix that.

"Hermione, don't let them get to you. Don't let anyone ever get to you," George put his hand over hers in a friendly way.

Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at their hands and then she turned to look up at him. His actions reminded her so much of Ron's that it killed her. Her mind then traveled to him. Right before they had left-the night before to be exact, he kissed her for the first time. It felt so right and she felt complete but she was so scared and shocked that she just stood there, completely frozen. Looking back, she regretted just letting him go, without saying a word. She would give anything to see him again and just explain herself.

"Hermione," George looked down at her, pulling her out of the past.

"Yeah?" She didn't realize that she had been getting closer to him.

"I just," He stopped, leaning down to get a bit closer to her.

The two stayed about an inch apart for a few moments. Hermione closed her eyes thinking of Ron again. George leaned in just a bit further and before they knew it they were kissing. His hands went to her neck, pulling her closer. Hermione couldn't catch her breath but she didn't care. She knew this was wrong, but if she closed her eyes tight enough she could imagine Ron and that felt right. Her hands found his waist as she was pulled even closer to him. He pulled his lips away from her for a moment and looked at her, still holding her face in his hands.

"Hermione, what are we doing?" George whispered.

"I don't know," She opened her eyes, "But whatever we're doing…we shouldn't be doing it…"

"I know," He nodded, letting go of her.

"Thank you, though," Hermione said.

"For what?" He asked.

"Taking my mind off of things for a little bit," She smiled and he laughed.

* * *

Hermione let out a small breath as class let out. She glanced over at Draco to see him staring off into space. This would be their first day of detention together. Biting her lip, she noted that she had already finished her homework. This meant that this next hour would perhaps be one of the most boring things she'd ever sat through. When they made their way to Slughorn's class, Hermione sat down quickly. Slughorn walked to the front of the class and made a few notes. He then left the room entirely. The two stayed silent for about twenty minutes and Slughorn was still gone.

"How long do you think he'll be away?" Draco asked.

"No idea," Hermione stared at her desk.

"Any word from Potter and Weasel Bee?" Draco got a bit comfortable.

"Oh that's cute," Hermione gave him a fake smile, "Acting like you actually care."

"I'll take that as a no," He seemed amused, "So how does it feel Granger? To be so alone?"

"Cold," Hermione played along, "But then I remember I could never be as lonely as you."

"You really have a mouth this year, don't you?" He shook his head.

"I'm done fighting with you. It's pointless and tiring." Hermione rolled her eyes before looking away.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a long week." He said under his breath.

"Me too,"

The next few days were pretty typical. Hermione finished her homework in between classes and when Slughorn left during detention she and Draco talked-well _bickered_ to one another. Hermione spent her nights by the fire talking with George about silly things. She also tried to help him with his homework, but it seemed as though lately he really hadn't been learning too much, or retaining it at least. This particular night, George had finished his homework and the two had been talking for several hours about unimportant things. It seemed like they were becoming what the other one needed.

"Hermione?" George asked, catching her attention.

"Hm?" She looked away from the fire in front of her.

"Can I-can I…" He stopped.

"George, what is it?" She became alarmed.

"Can I take your mind off things for a bit?" He finally asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hermione became confused.

She tried to question this, but before she could finish he was kissing her. This time he was a bit more aggressive and forceful. Hermione wanted to stop this-she wanted to push him away but she couldn't. Though what they were doing was wrong, it did make her feel a bit better at least for the time being. The truth in this statement, made her feel like an even worse person. She imagined what Ron would do if he knew about this. He would be so angry and upset, Hermione couldn't bear to think of it.

"George, George stop." Hermione pulled away, "We really, really can't do this."

"Right, someone could see," He nodded.

"No, I mean…I mean ever George. I have feelings for Ron and what we're doing is terrible. I'm sorry, but we just can't. I hope I didn't send too many mixed signals or anything." Hermione told him, taking a deep breath.

"You're right, I'm sorry." He looked down at his hands. "I'm awfully tired."

"George, don't be mad," Hermione called after him, but he didn't answer.

She held her face in her hands and tried to remain calm.

* * *

Looking at the ground, Hermione bit her lip. She could feel Draco's eyes burning into her flesh, but she refused to look at him. Her mind refused to let her forget her recent dreams which now made her feel guilty and embarrassed. Her mind also refused to let her forget about the recent events with George. It was bad enough she was having dreams about an enemy in such ways, but to be with her lover's brother? That was unthinkably wrong and immoral.

"What's gotten into you, Granger?" Draco finally spoke when Slughorn left the two alone during detention.

"Why would you care?" Hermione didn't move an inch.

"What fun is it to see you in pain if I don't know what caused it?" He muttered.

"Stop talking to me," Hermione said.

"I'll stop talking when you drop dead," Draco's words rolled so easily off his tongue.

"Trust me, it's tempting," Hermione said in a monotonous way.

"Okay really Granger, what's eating you up?"

"Why do you care?" Hermione repeated herself in a more aggressive way than before.

"Honestly, I don't know. But I do, so why not talk to me. It's not like you really have that many friends right now anyway." Draco shot back.

The truth in this made Hermione's blood boil. After all the years of tormenting her, she could always use the whole, 'at least I have friends' as a comeback. But this year she was unable to defend herself in that way, which made her want to scream. All of her friends were still acting like children and most of them were trying to pretend like nothing was going on. The dance was coming up as well, taking everyone's mind off of learning spells that would actually help them during this, and onto what kind of heels would look good with their designer dresses.

"Why are you all of a sudden so interested in me, Draco?" Hermione's eyes finally shot to his.

"I believe I've already answered that question." Draco sighed becoming a bit bored with the current conversation, "We're talking in circles, Granger."

"I'm alone, more alone than I've ever been, okay? I don't know how to handle anything anymore, alright? So just leave me alone," Hermione looked away, ashamed that she let her guard down and opened up to the very last person she thought she would talk to about this.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you're alone because you're pushing everyone away?" Draco remarked.

"So what's your excuse for being so alone?" Her eyes darted back to him.

"Have you ever stopped and wondered if maybe you and I really aren't that different?" Draco leaned over his desk.

"We're complete opposites, fire and ice; black and white…" Hermione tried.

"You keep telling yourself that," He leaned back in his chair smirking. Hermione tried to protest this but Slughorn was quick to return to the room.

Their conversation rattled around in her head for quite some time. She skipped dinner that night and went straight to the library. She'd been dying to do some more research just to get her mind off of things, but she already knew how it would end. As she entered the library, she was alone and felt at ease. It was this particular place in Hogwarts which made Hermione feel at home. It was where she always felt comfortable, at least when she couldn't be with Ron or Harry. Glancing down the isles, Hermione heard something which made her jump. After approaching where the sound came from, she was relieved to find it was only a book which had fallen from the shelf. Placing it back on to the shelf where in belonged, a figure approached her, making her jump once more.

"George!" Hermione put her hand over her heart, "For a moment I thought you were-never mind. Are you alright?"

He looked like an utter mess. His hair was messier than usual, his fists were clenched in his hands and he looked like he would break down at any moment. Hermione looked to his round eyes which were tear stained. The sight of him literally took her breath away for a few moments. She'd seen him angry before, she'd seen him upset but she had never seen him this troubled. Hermione examined him for a few more moments before he spoke up.

"No, no I'm not okay at all," He shook his head.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"I know how you feel about Ron. I know how he feels about you. And-and he's my brother for Heaven's sake. He's one of my own. I want him to be happy, and I want you to be happy, Hermione. You both deserve each other when all of this is over. And I'm such an awful person…" He looked down to the ground.

"You are not," Hermione disagreed.

"I still want to kiss you, and I don't want to stop. It's terrible but it's true. And I'm sorry, okay?" George got closer to her and placed his hand on her face.

Words seemed to fail her at this time. She felt like she was suffocating. The situation was literally making her sick. Hadn't they already had this discussion? They couldn't do this, not now and not ever. Hermione had already explained that to him. So why did he continue to push?

A shuffle of feet caught both of their attention. Hermione craned her neck to try and see who was there. But it seemed as though the person had left. Hermione whipped back around to see George and the expression on his face. He was just as scared as she was.

"Go," Hermione broke the silence, "Just leave,"

George watched her carefully and then nodded. He had a look of pain in his eyes which Hermione had never seen before. In a way, it broke Hermione's heart to see him in such a state. But she refused to let her emotions cloud her better judgment as she was keen for doing lately. Looking back at the bookshelves, Hermione tried to concentrate but it was no use. In utter defeat, she made her way back to the common room and called it a night. Hermione didn't want to think of the nasty rumors she was sure to hear in the morning, so she went to bed quickly.

Hermione couldn't help but think about their problems all day. She hoped that she could clear her mind during detention but it seemed as though Draco wouldn't leave her alone. When Slughorn left the room, he glanced over at her, studying her uneasiness.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I hope you liked the new chapter and if you're still reading my story, thank you so much! It means a lot!

Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Wooden Box

Author's Pre-note:  Hey! So I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to leave some song suggestions to listen to while you're reading this (kind of short) chapter. (Sorry!) "_I Gave You All"_ and "_White Blank Page" _by Mumford and Sons. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

"How was the library last night?" Draco wickedly asked.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Hermione's eyes shot up to his.

"Does Ron know about the little love triangle?" Draco laughed.

"It's not a love triangle!" She stammered, becoming angry.

"I can't really say I'm surprised, Granger. I mean, I thought that you'd have enough dignity to cheat on Ron with someone who-well wasn't his brother. But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't see something coming." He laughed.

"You do realize that to cheat you technically have to be with someone, right?" Hermione questioned, getting to her feet.

"See, this is exactly what happens when the ugly duckling turns into a swan." Draco shook his head.

"Shut up, you filthy pig!" Hermione leaned over his desk.

"At least my blood is clean," He stared at her in an unalarmed way. "But you don't care about that, do you Granger? No, blood and status doesn't mean a thing to you. Being wealthy doesn't matter at all, does it? Of course not, because you live in a delusional world where we can all just hold hands and forgive one another. You think that this world isn't black and white, that it's not as cold as it seems. Well Granger, you're wrong. Friendship and bravery aren't as important as you make them out to be." Draco watched Hermione closely.

"You know nothing of friendship and bravery!" Hermione cried, "You're just a scared little boy, Draco."

Hermione was mere inches from Draco, bent over the desk in a fierce manner. She held her lips tight and firm in effort to not show him that she was trembling. But she could not hide her teary eyes and unsteady breathing. Draco looked much the same, if not even more bothered. His lips parted a tad bit and his expression was unreadable.

"You are just as scared as I am," Hermione breathed.

"And you are just as lonely as I am," Draco replied quickly. "This is what I meant, Granger. We aren't that different after all."

Hermione quickly turned away and sat down in her seat. The door opened a second later and Slughorn entered the room. Carefully, Hermione turned away in order to hide that she was on the verge of breaking down. As she nibbled her bottom lip, she could tell that Draco was staring at her once more. It was easy to see that he really got to her this time, but it was also evident that she had gotten to him this time too. When detention was over, Hermione quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed her belongings.

"Ms. Granger," Slughorn called after her.

"Yes?" She turned around with her eyes glued to the floor.

"Are you alright?" He questioned.

"Yes," Hermione nodded, still refusing to look at him in the eyes.

"Alright, Ms. Granger you are dismissed, but Draco please stay for a minute." He said.

Hermione escaped the classroom which had felt like a cage for the past hour. She reached the common room where she found herself alone. Sitting down in front of the fire, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. After a few minutes Hermione felt a hand cover hers. Opening her eyes in a frightened manner, she turned to see George.

"George?"

"Shh," He leaned in close to her. His head fell so he hovered over her with his lips almost touching her left ear. Her heart pounded and she wondered if he could hear it too. Moving closer to her, he shushed her again. "I'm sorry, for all of this. I know how you feel about him, and I'm sorry. I promise you after tonight I will never try to be this close to you again."

"George," She helplessly tried.

"No, let me finish. I'm not that kind of guy." He whispered. "This isn't me…at all, and I apologize for this.

"For what?" Hermione wondered.

George held her face in both of his hands. He leaned over and kissed her lips in a tender way. Her body shuddered under his soft touch. His lips grazed hers again and he then pulled away, letting her go. As he backed away, Hermione stared at him unable to speak.

"I will never try to do that again. I will never touch you unless you touch me first." He stood up and left.

* * *

Hermione went straight to the dormitory. She quickly grabbed a box underneath her bed. After checking to make sure that all the other girls were sleeping, she went to the old girl's bathroom. The box was wooden and darker than Hermione had remembered. Putting her back against the wall, she slid down to the cold concrete floor.

Her fingers slid over the lock and carefully she opened it. A piece of her heart broke as she lifted a handful of pictures from the box. Flipping through them a tear fell from her face. Her lips trembled as she searched and sorted through more photos of her and Ron. Pulling one picture away from the rest of them, she gave it a good long look. It had been her absolute favorite. It was taken over the past summer. They were sitting next to each other at his house. When the photo was taken neither of them realized. Hermione was smiling, looking down at her hands which rested in her lap. Ron was smiling at her with his normal playful features shining through. Placing the photo against her chest, she held it there and wept in a manner she never knew she could.

Being without Ron and Harry was messing with her head now more than ever. She couldn't help but to be so angry and upset with herself. It was foolish to think that they wouldn't run off in the middle of the night. She should have tried to stop them, she should have demanded that she tag along with, but she wasn't thinking clearly at all. The constant rumors weren't helping with her current situation either. Leaning back against the wall, Hermione tried to stop her heart from breaking but it didn't look like she had any control over it.

The night blurred into the day and Hermione wasn't acting normal at all. She never raised her hand to answer any questions and she didn't follow along whatsoever. All of her professors made small remarks and comments to her throughout the day, but she didn't seem to care. She spent the classes staring at her books and out the windows.

* * *

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading! Please don't be discouraged, this is a dramione and there will be some things coming up really soon, I hope that the whole George/Hermione thing didn't bother any of you.

Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Astronomy Tower

It was the last day of detention, which made Hermione a bit happy. She was really beginning to dread detention now that the two's bickering turned into mind games. Carefully, she sat down in Slughorn's class and he left promptly as normal. Hermione stared at the ground and bit her lip anxiously as she did often. Draco sat there quiet, not knowing exactly what to say. It was evident that they were both still bothered by the conversation the day before. He messed with a quill he had been writing with that day and eventually he dropped it on the desk, making a very small, faint sound. It made Hermione turn to see him, which was all that he really wanted.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" Hermione asked.

"About what?" Draco lacked his normal arrogant sound in his voice.

"George and I," Hermione replied, still looking at him.

"No," He shook his head.

"Why?" Hermione was curious.

"Because I'm sick of this," He muttered.

"Me too," Hermione took a deep breath and looked back at her desk. "For what it's worth, it was over before it started,"

There was a long pause. She knew that Draco didn't care; why would he? But it was still something to talk about, which seemed better than just sitting in silence like they were now. Hermione softly sighed as she looked out the window. Quickly she pulled out some of her notes and books.

"What are you doing?" Draco looked over at her.

"Homework," Hermione replied.

"You're not doing homework. You do that in between classes," Draco said. Hermione didn't reply, looking rather timid. "Bloody Hell, Granger. You really are messed up."

"Bite me," Hermione scribbled down a few things in her notes.

"You weren't paying attention at all today in class were you?" Draco laughed. "You're not going to know how to do your homework at all if you didn't pay attention. We started on some new things today."

Hermione stayed silent, not wanting to admit that she hadn't really been paying attention all day. She was the smart one, not the idiot who just didn't care. Biting her tongue, she tried to start on some other homework but she was having trouble with everything. Draco could tell by the look on her face that she was running into problems, but he knew that she wouldn't admit to it or let him help her just yet. So instead of offering to help, he sat back and watched her which was rather amusing.

"You're so stubborn sometimes," Draco said under his breath.

"You think you have room to talk?" Hermione looked over at him.

"Calm down, Granger." He laughed.

"No, I will not!" Hermione yelled.

"What's your problem?" Draco smirked, "Women, I swear."

Slughorn walked into the room and sat down at his desk quietly. Hermione was thankful for this because she really didn't have it in her to talk anymore. Draco tapped his pencil on his desk until eventually the hour was over. As both Hermione and Draco stood to leave, Slughorn stopped them.

"What have you learned from this?" Slughorn asked the two.

Both Hermione and Draco looked at one another before turning back to their teacher.

"That it's best to keep our mouths shut and not talk to one another." Hermione said quickly.

"Well, Ms. Granger—"

"Actually, I disagree. I think we've learned that we shouldn't be in the same classes at all." Draco shot a quick glance to her. "I'll talk with someone about switching schedules."

"Mr. Malfoy, that is not what I—"

"Well if you don't, I will," Hermione crossed her arms.

"Would you both stop!" Slughorn cried out.

"Shut up you…you…" Draco tried, but he couldn't.

"Both of you!" Slughorn yelled, "This detention was to make you two talk to one another."

"What?" Hermione questioned, "That's psychotic."

"Well it worked, I can see. Now, you both need to learn how to get along with one another. Ms. Granger, I think you of all people would know that given the time, it is better to have friends than enemies." Mr. Slughorn looked at her.

"Oh please, Draco wouldn't save me if his life depended on it." Hermione stated.

"Oh believe me. If my life depended on it, I would save us both. It would be too depressing to watch you die quickly." He remarked.

"You spoiled brat!" Hermione screamed.

"I believe that maybe I should extend your punishment so the two of you can actually learn the lesson." Slughorn crossed his arms.

"No, no, we learned, didn't we…Mal-Draco." Hermione corrected herself.

"Alright, I won't extend your detention. But you two better start showing some respect for one another." Slughorn warned.

"Of course," Draco nodded, keeping a straight face.

Hermione knew that voice. He always had a slick tone in it whenever he really didn't mean something. She tried not to be upset, knowing that he didn't want to be in detention any more than she did. So this would settle it, they would just not talk to one another. Taking a deep breath, she watched Slughorn nod and then leave the room. She followed closely behind him, leaving Draco alone for a few seconds. But he followed behind her, just close enough to catch her in the hall. He called out her name, and she turned around to see him. Draco stood there, tall and masculine like always. His stance made Hermione feel small and weak. She began having a flashback of her dream.

Every part of her became cold and numb. She remembered his presence towering over her far too well. Chills ran up her spine and her breath became unsteady. Closing her eyes, she remembered the way his arms fell on either side of her, locking her in place. She remembered his lips grazing her neck and his breath dancing on her skin. It felt so real and it brought a swarm of emotions to the pit of her stomach. Opening her eyes, she felt sick as she saw him standing a bit closer. Hastily, she left the hallway, leaving him there alone.

* * *

Later that day, Hermione stayed in the library for a few hours. She was still trying to do homework, though it wasn't looking too well. Draco was right when he said that she'd be confused. So she turned to some books and tried to figure out on her own. It bothered her to be this troubled with schoolwork. She was always top of her class, getting everything done earlier and more complete and organized than the rest. That was her normal, it was just who she was. So the fact that she had to actually do homework for this long and was still having trouble grasping the concept really upset her.

As Hermione bit her lip, which was now incredibly swollen, she turned to her left. Footsteps were coming towards her and she watched until she could finally make out the figure. She remembered plenty of times before when Harry and Ron would come get her from the library at insanely late hours because she would always lose track of time. But she knew that this time it would be neither of them. So instead she hoped for George or Ginny, but to her surprise it wasn't them either. Instead, Draco stood before her, in the flesh.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, looking back to her books.

"I figured you'd be here," He sat down across from her.

"What made you so sure of that?" She picked up her quill as if she actually knew what she was doing.

"It's a Friday night, where else would you be?" He questioned, putting his hands on the table.

"You are so ignorant," Hermione said, still not looking back at him.

"How's the homework coming along?" He asked in a cool manner.

"Fine," Hermione lied, still not looking up at him.

"Look at me in the eye," Draco told her.

Hermione couldn't.

"Granger, what's gotten into you? You just left me standing in the hallway earlier, you can't look me in the eye…" He paused for a moment. "I'm used to us bickering or you ignoring me, but this actually…_bothers_ me a bit."

"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione finally spoke up.

"Well I don't know what I did but—"

"You didn't do anything, okay?" Hermione said quickly, "You didn't do this. It's not about you, it's about me."

"Well what's going on?" Draco questioned.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" She shut her books.

"Okay, different subject," Draco backed off. "I'm surprised you're not going to the dance."

"What?" Hermione looked up at him, but not in his eyes.

"The dance is in an hour," Draco mentioned. "I'm just shocked you're not going."

"No, no, that's today?" Hermione grabbed all of her books and shoved them in her bag.

"So I take it you are going." Draco smirked.

"Yeah, I told George I'd go with him." She put her bag on her shoulder.

"George?" His voice seemed a bit different—a bit more interested.

"Yes, we're friends, friends do things like that." Hermione brushed it off, heading for the door.

"Yeah…friends…" Draco looked away, letting out a sigh. He sounded bitter and almost jealous.

"We really are just friends, Draco." Hermione said. "Not that it's any business or concern of yours."

* * *

Hermione quickly went to her dormitory which was full of teenage girls gossiping, doing each others hair and trying on each others dresses. She pushed herself through a small crowd and made it to her bed. Pulling her suitcase from the end of her bed, she opened it up and searched for her dress. It was an old one that her mom had worn to a dance herself. It looked a bit vintage, but in a subtle way. Before putting the dress on, Hermione ran her hand down the silky dress and gave it a faint smile. Just looking at the fabric made her think of her mom. Honestly, it was a bittersweet feeling every time she thought of her mother.

"Hermione, is that what you're wearing?" A younger girl asked, coming up to her.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded.

"It's beautiful," She smiled before running off with two of her friends.

Hermione put her dress on and then her makeup. Looking in the mirror at herself, she sighed. She would always be unsatisfied with her appearance. She thought she was too short, not thin enough and her jawline didn't sit right. Of course, others constantly told her differently, but she wouldn't believe them. Looking down at her dress and smoothing out any wrinkles that may have popped up, she saw a girl behind her in the mirror.

"You look amazing," Ginny said.

"Thanks," Hermione turned around and saw Ginny's short, skin colored dress. It went perfectly with her new heels. "You look good too,"

"Thanks." Ginny nodded. "Listen, Hermione, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Hermione put her suitcase back where it belonged.

"No really," Ginny tried.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to be late." Hermione turned away and left.

When Hermione entered the Great Hall, she smiled. It was so lively and energetic. George stood by the entrance, waiting for her. Hermione looked over at him and examined his suit which made him look even older than he was. The two talked for quite some time, before sitting down on the side of the room. Her attention was taken to Neville and Luna who had just walked out onto the dance floor. Luna was wearing a silver dress and was absolutely stunning. Neville looked so nervous, but the whole thing was really adorable at the same time in its own awkward way. Then Hermione's attention was turned towards Dean Thomas who had his arms around Ginny as they slow danced.

"Do you want to dance?" George looked over at Hermione.

"Um, I'm not too good at it, but sure," Hermione nervously laughed as he led her to the dance floor.

George carefully put his hands around her waist and she hesitantly put her arms around his neck. The two began swaying back and forth. She tried to hide how uncomfortable she was feeling, but George could still sense it. Keeping her eyes on the people around them, Hermione tried to count the number of steps they took. Biting her tongue she then tried to remember how much homework she still had to do.

"Hermione?" George looked down at her.

"Yes?" Hermione looked up at him, finally.

"What's going on?" He wondered.

"Nothing," Hermione became straight faced.

"You look like you're terrified. Is something wrong?" He laughed.

"No, no, of course not," Hermione faked a smile.

"You can't put the past behind, can you?" He had a serious tone in his voice now.

"What?"

"Hermione, I'm not going to try to kiss you. I told you I wouldn't touch you again like that, and I won't. But please don't tell me that you're going to act like this for the rest of the night." George whispered.

"I'm sorry, it's just...I still feel funny about this. I mean being this close to you. Your hands on my waist…" She started.

"Oh okay, then let's just switch. You put your hands on my waist, and I'll put my hands around your neck. I don't think that will draw any attention," George looked down at her.

She laughed in an uncontrollable manner and he smiled.

"You're right, I'm being silly. I'm sorry, it's just been a heck of a day." Hermione thought back to the library.

"Well, why don't you put that aside for right now and just enjoy yourself for a night?" George suggested.

"You're right," Hermione nodded and then paused. She stopped swaying and let go of his neck. "No, no you're not right." She shook her head. "I can't do that, I can't do this, I'm sorry."

And with that, she left him standing there on the dance floor by himself. Hermione made it to her dormitory and let out a small breath. She sat on her bed for about an hour before she got up and decided to walk around the halls. If she was to be honest with herself, she had no clue why she did this, it was just a feeling she had. As she thought about other things she could be doing that would actually help and be of benefit to her, she strolled into the astronomy tower. She thought that would be a suitable place to just be alone and think clearly for a while. But to her surprise, Draco was standing on the ledge, looking down at the school grounds. He had his palm on the wall beside him to balance himself. Hermione watched him swallow hard and look down in dismay.

"Draco," Hermione went closer to him.

"Granger?" He turned his head to see the girl standing there.

"You're not going to jump, are you?" She asked in an overly calm manner which he could tell she was playing off because the truth of the matter was she didn't know how to feel or respond to the current event.

"Who would care if I did?" He looked away from her and back to the ground, hundreds of feet below.

"Are you serious right now?" Hermione asked. But Draco didn't answer her, he just stared at the ground and took deep breaths. "Draco, tons of people would care." She finally added.

"No," He shook his head.

"Your parents would care," Hermione said, "They would miss you terribly."

"They wouldn't care."

"How can you say that?" Hermione was astonished at his answer. "You're their kid, of course they would care."

"Granger, they would only be upset that they wouldn't have someone to carry on the family's name." Draco told her. "The truth of the matter is no one would care."

"I would care," Hermione said quickly.

"You would not," Draco disagreed.

"Draco," Hermione cried out, making him turn towards her. "Don't jump."

"Why not? Give me one good reason." Draco watched her.

"Because then I'll have to jump too," Hermione took off her shoes and jumped up on the ledge with him.

"Granger," Draco put his arm in front of her, preventing her from possibly falling.

"No, I mean it, Draco." Hermione put her hand on the wall beside of her and looked down.

"You've lost your bloody mind," Draco stated.

"And so have you," Hermione looked over at him.

"After everything I've ever done to you, why are you doing this for me?" Draco asked.

"Because I've been thinking about us a lot lately, and I think you were right. Draco you and I really aren't that different after all. In fact, we are very much alike. So if you jump, I jump." Hermione looked back down at the ground which seemed even farther away than it did at first glance.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Hope you like the story so far! Please keep reading on and I hope you enjoy!

Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Malfoy Manor

Author's Pre-note: Hey guys, so I hope you don't mind if I leave a few song suggestions here again! "_The Funeral" _by Band of Horses and "_Sail_" by Awolnation.

"Granger, get down." Draco ordered.

"Only if you do too," She told him.

The wind was cold and became rather harsh as they spoke. The sun was gone now and the moon was just now beginning to shine. Hermione pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear which kept continuously blowing in front of her face. Draco stared at her for a few moments and then would look down at the ground, as if he was still debating on what to do. Carefully, Hermione reached over and grabbed Draco's hand, which made him flinch at first. His eyes darted over to her and looked more than uncomfortable.

"Come on," She got down from the ledge and pulled him along with her.

"Don't think that this changes anything between you and I," Draco said darkly as he pulled his hand away from hers.

"Trust me; I wouldn't want this to ruin our wonderful relationship." She said sarcastically.

"You don't know me Granger," Draco said in a mean tone.

This caught Hermione off guard. But she soon realized why he changed so suddenly. His eyes were off at a distant, looking past her. She turned to see that both Lucius and Bellatrix stood before them. Hermione's skin began crawling when she laid eyes on the evil witch. There was something about Bellatrix that would always make Hermione uneasy. Lucius had the same effect on her, but not to the same extent. Though he was just as much a threat—if not more, Bellatrix was more psychotic than he was. Hermione took a step backwards towards Draco, but that didn't make her feel any safer. Especially because she was now realizing she had left her wand sitting on her bed.

"Draco," Lucius moved closer, "Have you gotten your things together? Certainly you got my letter,"

"Yes, my things are over there," Draco pointed across the room to where a suitcase stood.

"And this is, oh don't you look familiar?" Bellatrix took Hermione's hair in her hand, looking at the girl with a wicked look in her eye.

"I should go," Hermione pulled away from the older witch.

"Not so fast, Granger," Lucius smiled, "I do believe you have something that I desire,"

Lucius neared Hermione and began circling her. Hermione stood, trying hard not to show that every piece of her was breaking at the moment. She was terrified, knowing that she would have no way out and she couldn't hope by any means that someone would save her. Harry and Ron couldn't just magically appear out of nowhere and get her out of this one. No, of course not because that would just be too easy, wouldn't it? But Hermione refused to give up just yet, there had to be another way out of this.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione tried buying time.

"Oh, but I think you do," Lucius walked directly behind her and put his hands around her neck. She tensed up under his grip, thinking he was about to choke her but to her surprise he let up a bit. His large hands ran across her collarbones and then down her arms. Bellatrix laughed in a mental way. Lucius leaned over her shoulder so he was talking directly into her ear. "You have information, don't you?" He was sounding innocent, almost nice for a moment. "You know where he is, don't you, you _filthy, dirty, disgraceful mudblood?"_

Hermione could find nothing around her that could be used as a weapon or a distraction. She realized that the only way she could possibly fight this was to actually physically fight, though she was smart enough to understand that the odds were against her. Hermione whirled around and tried to push Lucius away, but he only grabbed her forcefully and threw her onto the ground. Pushing herself upwards, Bellatrix kicked her back down again. From the corner of Hermione's eye, she could see Draco standing nearby, but doing absolutely nothing.

Refusing to give up, Hermione tried getting up once more. Lucius grabbed Hermione's shoulder and pushed her so her back was flat against the cold, stone ground. He smiled at her, seeing that she was in pain. He knelt down and examined her weak actions carefully.

"Don't worry," Lucius offered, "I won't kill you, not yet. You still have information that I so desperately need,"

Bellatrix kicked Hermione's side once more, and Hermione spit up some blood. She heaved and coughed on it, until it surrounded her mouth. Continuing to fight, she tried to not think of the pain she was going through. She wouldn't give up, not yet, not so easily. Someone would have to hear, right? Someone would be able to do something eventually if she just continued to fight.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Bellatrix shouted into the night.

Hermione lay stiff on the floor, completely bounded. She was in so much pain, all she wanted to do was scream; but she couldn't. Throwing herself into a fit inside of her unmoving body, Hermione eventually passed out entirely.

* * *

When Hermione opened her eyes, she was face down on a cold floor. Everything was blurry and dark as she turned over to her and picked herself up. Her head was reeling and her heart pounded as she searched around the tiny room. There was a bed in the corner and a small window, but it was barred off to make sure nothing got in and nothing got out. Hermione looked at the bookshelf which was to her surprise full of books that she had never heard of before. A noise from across the room startled her.

"Granger," Narcissa entered the room. She had aged since the last time Hermione had seen her. It amazed Hermione how Draco could be attractive and yet his parents were rather average looking.

"Where am I?" Hermione asked, clenching her fists at her sides. She breathed deeply and back up against the wall.

"This is the Malfoy Manor." Narcissa answered. "If you want your time here to be short, we should get to the point. You have information that we need. If you give us that information, we'll let you go."

"I will tell you nothing," Hermione shook her head.

"I know that you think that now, but I promise you after a while your mind will change." Narcissa had an evil smile appearing on her mouth.

"Stay away from me," Hermione warned.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, mudblood. Last time I checked, I'm the witch with the wand." She got closer, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the girl standing before her. "Crucio!"

Hermione's body jolted in pain. She screamed as she eventually hit the floor. As her head hit stone, a tear fell from her eyes. This was a type of pain she had never felt before, an unforgivable, terrible pain. Narcissa approached the girl, looking down at her body which was cringed up. Hermione heard the older witch laugh at the sight, and Hermione was powerless.

"You are so foolish," Narcissa's voice pierced Hermione's ears. Then she got up and left the room.

Hermione stayed on the floor for hours on end. Her eyes finally shut and she was able to get a little bit of sleep. Curling up in a ball, Hermione buried her face in her hands.

A soft hand touched her side, waking her from her slumber. She was actually happy to see Draco, though she was a bit unsure of how to act. A million things ran through her head at once, as she tried to steady her breathing. He knelt down in front of her, a bit closer than she was comfortable with, but she said nothing. There were so many things she needed to say, so many questions that she needed answered but in that moment, she didn't care. Draco's hands moved to the floor pinning her to the ground. Hermione stared meekly at him, too apprehensive to speak or move.

Her body still felt so weak and fragile, but she didn't mind the force he placed upon her. She stumbled backwards, flat on her back and gave a slight smile as he appeared above her. Draco kissed her lips and his hands searched for her. The two pawed at each other for quite some time. Hermione's heart pounded so loudly in her chest, she thought it just might burst into pieces. But it didn't stop her from reaching her hand around his neck to pull him closer to her. He smiled at her as she kissed his neck and then his cheek.

"Draco—" Hermione began, finally trying to think straight.

"They can't hurt you now," He whispered between kisses.

"Granger," Draco stood at the door.

Hermione pushed herself from the floor, opening her heavy eyelids. These dreams were going to be the death of her. She tried to stand up, but her bones wouldn't allow her to. Falling back down on her side, Hermione grunted in pain. Draco looked over at her, noting what poor condition she was in. He had heard her screams through the hallways, he wasn't going to pretend like he didn't know that his mother had punished her. He walked towards her after locking the door.

"Stay away from me," Hermione was quick to speak.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Draco said, "And you're not really in a position to sound so threatening."

As he knelt down beside her, he saw bruises across her skin. Her eyes looked heavy as though she'd gone weeks without sleep. He could sense how much pain she was in and he didn't know exactly how to react to this. Putting his hand out to hers, he helped her sit up, though he could tell it was awfully painful for her still. Draco sat down next to her, trying to examine all of her wounds and bruises.

"I don't have the information that they're looking for. I don't know where they are, Draco!" Hermione cried, "You have to believe me,"

"Hermione, they're not going to stop until you tell them." Draco said.

"Well then they're going to have to kill me then." Hermione said sternly.

Hermione put her head in her hands and tried her hardest not to cry. How had this happened? She regretted leaving George at the dance more than anything. The worst part was knowing that there was absolutely no way that anyone would be able to find her. Harry and Ron couldn't find her even if they tried. Trying to think straight, Hermione bit her lip which was now bleeding.

"Hermione," Draco pulled out his wand, "You shouldn't be in this."

"But I am," She was quick to speak. "I am because they think I have information that I don't have!"

Draco stared at her, with an uncertain look in his face. Hermione knew it quite well.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Hermione questioned.

"Hermione, it's not that I think you're lying, it's just, it's just that if you did know something I know you well enough to know you wouldn't tell." Draco looked down at her with concern filling up his eyes.

* * *

Author's Note: 

Thank you so much for continuing to read my story. I know I'm definitely not the best writer in the world, but I'm really trying to learn and improve on my skills. Writing Dramione is a wonderful way for me to really practice and have fun with writing. Thanks for reading my story and I hope you all like it so far!

Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Pride

Author's Pre-note: Here's some song suggestions! "_Poison & Wine"_ by the Civil Wars, "_Sigh No More" _by Mumford and Sons and also "_Wonderwall" _by Oasis. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Hermione stumbled forward through the room. Her hands were bound in rope in front of her as she looked around the manor. Biting her tongue, Hermione looked over to Draco who was standing in the corner of the room. As she glanced around the rest of the room she saw Draco's parents which didn't surprise her, but she had to admit that she was shocked when she saw a tall figure standing alongside them. He was paler than normal, still tall and lean as always. She watched as he approached her, with his arms crossed.

"Severus," Nacrissa let a small smile show across her face. "I believe you know who this is."

"Of course," Snape nodded his head. "How could I forget Ms. Granger?"

Her stomach flipped over within itself. How could he be on their side? She trusted Snape, they all had and this was ridiculous. Trying to collect her thoughts, Hermione swallowed hard, noting that Snape was becoming closer. Draco's eyes wouldn't leave Hermione, which she couldn't help but notice from her peripheral vision.

"Professor Snape," Hermione breathed, "What are you doing here?"

"So naïve," He grimaced at her. "Why don't you tell us what you know, Ms. Granger,"

"I don't know anything," Hermione shook her head.

"See that's just not good enough." Snape got even closer and lowered his voice. "Granger if you want to live, I would suggest you give them what they want."

"I already told you that I don't know anything." Hermione whispered.

"Would you stop being courageous and do what I ask of you," Snape leaned down over her, making sure only she would hear. "I can get you out of here alive; just tell me where they are."

"I can't do that," She shook her head, "And even if I knew where they were, I wouldn't tell you, _traitor_."

Snape pulled his head away from her rather quickly and he slapped her across the face. She winced in pain as she turned away from him. Towering over her, he grabbed her by the rope around her wrists, pulling her back up from the floor where she had fallen to. Peering down at her, he carefully studied the girl. Then he quickly let her go and turned away, walking towards Lucius.

"Draco, take her back to her room." Narcissa demanded.

Draco walked over to Hermione rather quick. He pulled Hermione up by her wrists and led her out of the room. When they entered her room, he locked the door and turned to the girl. She was sitting on her bed, looking down at the ground. The past few days had been filled with torture and being questioned by numerous people. But Hermione didn't have any of the information they needed, though no one would believe her. Biting her lip, Hermione felt it start to bleed. As it dripped down her lip to her chin, she tried to wipe it away, but she was having trouble. Draco sat down next to her and pulled out his wand. Casting a simple spell, the rope untied and landed on her lap. She then quickly wiped the blood away and let out a small breath.

"Draco," Hermione looked at her wrists which had indents on them from the overly tight rope. "Why do you do this?"

"Do what?" He asked as if he didn't understand.

"You have a wand, you could get us both out of here at any minute, but you don't." Hermione spoke up, as she licked her bottom lip. "I mean, I could understand if you left me here, but why don't you leave this place? It's obvious that you're uncomfortable here."

"This is my home, I'm not uncomfort-"

"You don't belong here, Draco." Hermione interrupted. "You're not like them, you're better than that."

"There are too many things you just don't understand, and it's foolish of me to think that you _could_ understand. Hermione, you should hate me now more than ever, yet you don't. You should be angry and mad at me, don't you get that? We are enemies, we're not friends," Draco told her.

"We're not enemies." Hermione shook her head, "I don't know what we are, but we're not enemies. If we were enemies, you wouldn't care what happened to me at all. If we were enemies I would have let you kill yourself the other night. The world may have us believing that we're supposed to be, but we're not. Just like you said, we're not that different. In fact we're very much alike, Draco."

"It's not that easy," Draco stood up.

"But it is," Hermione said.

"You don't know me as well as you pretend to," He shook his head. "I am one of them, I've always been one of them and I always will be one of them."

"That's a lie," She refused to believe him.

"It's not,"

"Hurt me, Draco. Curse me, or hit me, do something to actually hurt me!" She cried out, "See? You can't hurt me, Draco. You are not one of them."

Draco looked over at her. He couldn't let this happen, he couldn't let her think that he wasn't still a Malfoy, that he still didn't have a duty here. She would never understand what he's been put through and she could never accept him if she knew anyway. Draco motioned closer to her and she couldn't help but flinch. Hermione never thought that Draco could physically hurt her, not after the recent events at least. Sure they could hurt each other's feelings and he's been known to make her cry. But he never went as low as to actually touch her too aggressively. He pushed himself close to her, in an intimidating manner. Though the odds were against it, Hermione still had doubt at the back of her mind that was swelling up as they spoke. Maybe he could be just like them.

Draco put his hands on her shoulders which were still aching a bit. He pushed her backwards roughly, as he inched closer to her. His presence over powered hers, and Hermione felt too fragile—almost glass like. She became pale with fright that he was actually about to do something really awful. But to her surprise, Draco leaned inward and kissed her lips. Words failed her and her breath was too unsteady for Hermione to try to think clearly. He backed away momentarily and then kissed her once more, now holding onto her, keeping her still under his touch. She tried not to act like she was feeling something, but she was feeling a lot more than she had ever felt before. It was that feeling in the pit of her stomach which came with all of her dreams. But it was so intense, so real that she could actually feel every little detail and take it all in.

Moving quickly, he grabbed his sleeve and pulled it upward. This action made Hermione flinch once more as if afraid he was going to slap her. But when she realized that he was no threat to her, she was able to put her arms down from shielding herself and actually see what he was doing. Hermione's mouth opened slightly as she noticed what he was trying to show her. His pale skin held a mark on it which made her lips tremble. This couldn't be, not Draco. But this was real; it wasn't a dream though she now wished that it had been.

"Draco—no, no," Hermione protested. "It means nothing,"

"It means everything," He corrected her. "I am a monster, Granger. I was wrong, we are nothing alike."

"Don't say that," Hermione cried, "Draco, this is a misunderstanding, please just listen to me."

But Draco was done. He had so many feelings rushing through his body that he really didn't know how to handle it all at once. Grabbing handcuffs which were in his pocket, he locked Hermione's left wrist onto the end of her bed. She sat in the floor, watching him with disbelief. This wasn't like him at all. Draco gave her one last look before he abruptly left the room in an angry manner. Staring at the door, she waited for him to come back, but she knew he wouldn't. He was too stubborn and too good for that. He wouldn't give up his pride for anything—especially not for a mudblood like her.

That's when it all sank in. All of this could have just been a plan. Everything Draco had said to her was just to draw her closer. Maybe this was the plan from the beginning. He knew that if she was locked away here then she couldn't help Ron or Harry, not that it looked like she was doing much help anyway. Hermione was starting to think that maybe she would die in this place because she had no information to give to anyone. She was smart enough to know that even if she did have some type of information and she actually gave it to them, they'd kill her anyway. There was no winning for her, and she could tell that there really was no way out of this. On top of it all, she had just lost her only hope.

Laying her head against the steel bed, Hermione began crying helplessly.

* * *

A few more days passed and nothing seemed to change. Draco stopped visiting her, so she only saw him when Lucius drug her out of her room. She was still roped and chained whenever she was alone.

Hermione rolled over on the stiff bed, and looked out the window. She wrapped her small hand around the bars, and tried to see how flexible they were. Of course, they were stronger than she had expected. Pushing her arm in between the bars Hermione pushed against the glass, but it didn't budge. After taking a deep breath, Hermione balled her hand into a fist and punched the glass, making it shatter.

Although she had hoped that the glass wouldn't make too much noise, it had. Her door opened quickly, making her jump. She wasn't ready to be tortured again, not so quickly. Her bones still ached and her bruises were swelling up all over her skin. Hermione bit her lip, as she tried pulling her ropes lose. As she looked back up towards the door, she saw Draco standing there. Her heart suddenly stopped for a few moments.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing," Hermione stood up, even though her hands were still bound.

"Hermione, if you don't just tell them where they are-"

"Draco, I've already told you, I don't know." Hermione pleaded, "Why won't you just believe me?"

"I can't believe anything you say, Granger." He muttered.

"And apparently I can't believe anything you say either, Draco!" Hermione cried. "I thought you were done with all of this,"

"I thought you'd be smart enough to realize that I'm not who you want me to be." Draco neared her. "I will never be what you wanted me to be." Draco took his wand out and started to repair the window. Hermione watched him carefully and decided to come about it on a different approach.

"Draco," Hermione walked towards him.

"What?" He turned to look at her.

Hermione stood in front of him. She tried pulling her hands from the rope, but it was no use. So she put her arms up, and put them around Draco's neck so the rope was touching his bare skin. He froze, uncertain of what to do. As he tried to speak, Hermione pulled him closer and began kissing him. His hands moved to her waist and she smiled. After a few moments of kissing, Draco picked Hermione up and placed her down on her bed. She pulled her arms from around his neck and in front of her. Draco untied the ropes and let them fall to the ground. Immediately, her hands went to his waist as his went for her neck. As he kissed her aggressively, Hermione fell to her back, looking up at Draco.

Giving him a slight smile, Hermione's hand searched for his pocket where she pulled out his wand. Draco grabbed it quickly, understanding what she had been trying to do.

"Nice try, Granger," He looked down at her. "But I'm not stupid."

"Neither am I," She pushed him down and climbed atop of him. Hermione grabbed the rope and tied him to the bed post.

"Grang-"

"We're not that different after all, Draco." Hermione said, grabbing his wand which had fallen onto the floor.

"You're kidding me, right?" Draco sat up.

"No, I'm not." She said in a very serious tone. "I've let this go on long enough, I've sat there and I've let them torture me day after day and I am done."

"If you don't untie me-"

"Then what?" Hermione questioned. "I'm getting the Hell out of here, are you coming with me or are you staying here?"

"That's not a good idea," He shook his head, "If they catch you, they'll kill you."

"Who would care?" Hermione laughed, gripping the wand tighter. "Because I know you wouldn't."

"That's not true, just give me my wand and I'll explain everything, okay?" Draco tried.

"I'm not giving you this back...not until I trust you." Hermione said, giving a look to Draco.

"Okay," He said, "Fine, alright? I'll go with you, but this is absolutely mental."

"I know," Hermione nodded as she took a deep breath.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey! I really hope the story has kept you intrigued! I'm having a lot of fun with this Dramione and I hope you are too! Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Escape

Hermione pointed the wand at the window, and muttered a few words under her breath. The bars over the window bent sideways, leaving a small crawl space. As Hermione climbed atop of the bed, she pulled herself up and out of the room. Draco leaned over outside the window, to see how far down it was. She looked back over to him in a hesitant way.

"You don't have to do this," Draco said, "Not like this at least. We can plan this more carefully,"

"You don't get it, do you?" Hermione shot a glance over to him. "I don't care about safe, Draco. I've been threatened and beaten for days now. Death doesn't seem so terrifying anymore." She pointed the wand at his ropes and allowed him to be untied. Hermione began climbing down the cold bricks which was becoming a bit difficult. Draco quickly rushed down beside her, as if he would actually help her.

Hermione really didn't know at this point how much she could trust him. She still wasn't sure exactly where his heart lied. As she took a deep breath, she began climbing down again. Draco looked around to make sure that no one was watching. Reaching down farther Hermione's foot slipped and she almost fell. Thankfully, Draco reached out and held her up by her hand. She looked down at the ground which was still far below the two of them.

"Draco!" Hermione cried out.

"It's okay, Granger. Just-just hang on," He grunted, trying to grasp a brick in the wall a bit more tightly.

"That's all I can do, Draco," She said as she tried gripping the wall with her other hand.

They struggled trying to help each other out, but nothing was working.

"Draco," Hermione tried pulling herself up again, but she was unsuccessful.

"Granger," Draco tightened his hand around hers, but she was slipping from his grasp. "I can't hold both of us for much longer. Get a hold of the wall."

"What does it look like I'm trying to do?" Hermione snapped.

"Why are we fighting right now?" Draco looked up at the wall.

"It's in our nature," She grunted as she finally found a brick that would support her. As she slipped over to it, Draco steadily watched her and waited to make sure that she was alright.

As the two went further, Hermione could finally see the ground about fifteen feet below her. She looked up at Draco to make sure he was still close to her. But when she saw him, she noticed the look on his face. Hermione turned over to where his eyes were to find that Bellatrix was standing at a window, looking down on them. Her features quickly changed in an angry rage as she left.

"Hermione, we need to move faster, they saw us," He continued to move.

"Draco, I'm stuck." Hermione saw that he had now passed her and had his feet on the ground.

"Step on the brick right over there," He pointed.

"I tried, I can't reach it," She shook her head with panic in her voice.

"Just-just jump, Granger."

"I'm not jumping," She shook her head.

"I'll catch you, just jump." He said quickly.

"Draco—"

"Bloody jump!" He demanded.

Hermione took a deep breath and tried to rationalize the situation. But nothing she could think of would actually comfort her. She looked down at Draco who looked both irritated and angry. From the corner of her eye, she could see Bellatrix rushing towards them, with Lucius close behind. Hermione closed her eyes and then let go of the wall. As she fell, Hermione kept her eyes closed, deciding that if Draco actually let her fall to the ground, she didn't want to know when it was coming. But to her surprise, she fell onto Draco and accidentally pushed him to the ground.

"Ow," Hermione said as she pushed herself up.

"You were never one to be graceful," Draco sighed as he stood up to his feet. He grabbed Hermione by her arm and the two began running, trying to keep a long distance between his aunt and father.

"Draco, my legs hurt, I can't run much further." Hermione panted for air.

"This isn't the time to be weak, Granger." He said as he kept a good pace.

"No really, Draco. My leg—oh my, Draco," Hermione cried.

"Stop thinking about it, we have to keep moving, Granger!" He shouted. But she didn't answer him. "Granger?"

He stopped running and turned around, seeing that she wasn't standing nearby. Draco noticed that they were in the forest behind his house and pretty deep into it too. Looking around for her, Draco called out her name again. Eventually, he found her lying on the ground surrounded by leaves. She still had been wearing the dress from the dance, which was torn and tattered. Kneeling down beside her, he saw a blood stain on the lower part of the dress. He put his hand on her, trying to wake her but it was evident that she had fainted. Draco grabbed the bottom of her dress and ripped it. When he was done, her dress stopped at her knees. At this point, he was able to see a piece of glass that was sticking out of her hazel skin. He wrapped the material from the dress up and bandaged her leg with the piece of glass still sticking out. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to fix the wound in the forest when they were still being followed.

After giving another look around to make sure he was alone, he picked Hermione up and began carrying her. Draco continued to walk for hours until eventually, he couldn't carry her anymore. As he sat her down, he realized that by now Bellatrix and Lucius had given up. But he also knew that he would have to move quickly in the morning if he didn't want to get caught in another web of his family's mess.

* * *

Hermione woke up to the sound of leaves being crushed under feet. As she turned her head to the right, she saw Draco hovering over her. Blinking a few times, Hermione tried to sit up, but Draco pushed her back down. A rush of emotions overcame her as he leaned down to kiss her. He smiled as he looked around the brightly lit forest. She had always loved the fall and it seemed even more beautiful with Draco sitting so close next to her. Putting his arms around her, he pulled her up and close to him. Laying her head on his chest, she nestled closer to him and smiled. It had been months since she had felt this safe.

"Hermione," Draco looked down at her.

"Yes?" Hermione smiled.

"Look at me," He held her tighter.

"I am," She laughed.

Hermione felt a sharp pain in her leg, making her yelp.

"Hermione,"

"What is that?" She cried out.

"Shh—" He kissed her.

The pain in her leg struck her again.

"Ow!" Hermione screamed loudly, her body jolting up from the ground.

"Hermione! Hermione, wake up!" Draco called out.

Her eyes shot open as she awoke from her dream that was all too good to be real. Quickly, she looked down at her leg, trying to grab a hold of it. But Draco pushed her back down, keeping her from seeing the blood which was covering both her and him at this point. She screamed in pain and his left hand covered her mouth.

"You have to stay quiet, we're still in the forest." He told her. "I have to take this out, you're going to lose too much blood, just take deep breaths."

"What the Hell is in my leg?" She cried out.

"It's glass, I'm guessing from the window." Draco gripped ahold of the long shard of glass.

Hermione couldn't help but to scream loudly as Draco pulled it out. There was blood all over the glass. She cried in pain as Draco took the extra dress material and wrapped it around her wound to add some pressure. Then he hurriedly stood up, and picked her up from the ground. The two started out, though Hermione limped behind with tears still pouring out her eyes. Draco walked ahead of her, searching through the trees to make sure that no one was following them.

"My—my dress," Hermione looked down, realizing what he had done to it.

"Really, Granger? That should be the last thing on your mind right now! We're being chased, in case you've forgotten." Draco took another quick glance around.

She didn't try to fight with him, she was too upset. After a few hours of limping around, Hermione saw that they were nearing the end of the forest. Looking over at Draco, Hermione took a deep breath. He stopped and looked around apprehensively. Then he turned back around to face her.

"What now, Granger?" Draco asked, "Since you're just filled with such great ideas, what do we do now?"

"Why are you angry, I got us out of that hole!" Hermione cried.

"You got us out of that?" He questioned, "No, Granger, I got us out of that. You would have died if I wasn't there to save your sorry—"

"Well, looks like we're even." Hermione crossed her arms.

"Even?" Draco turned towards her.

"If it wasn't for me, you'd have killed yourself the other day. And if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be away from that, that _place_!" She hollered, "Maybe my plan wasn't flawless, but at least it was a plan! At least I didn't give up like you did!"

"That's rich," He flashed an angry look towards her. "Enough of this, I'm sick of fighting with you. Where are we going?"

"We?" Hermione seemed surprised. "I'm sorry, I just…I didn't think you were…"

"You didn't think I was just going to leave you, did you?" He neared her.

"I didn't think you'd stick around," Hermione admitted and then paused. "I think I know somewhere we can go,"

* * *

Author's Note:

I know this chapter was short and I'm really sorry for that! But there is plenty more to come so I hope you all keep reading!

Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Draco stood closely behind Hermione. He couldn't express how incredibly uncomfortable he felt. She opened the front door and let herself in with an old key that she always kept on her. As she entered the house, she went straight to the bathroom. Hermione looked in the mirror at herself with sad eyes. She turned the water in the bathtub on and let the hot water fill up. Then she turned it off like clockwork.

"Draco," Hermione walked to the hallway. "I'm going to take a bath. Make yourself…" Hermione stopped.

This was weird, this was terrifying.

"Make myself?" He questioned.

"N-nothing," Hermione backed away a bit timidly and went to the bathroom. She shut the door and locked it before hopping into the tub.

Draco assumed that she meant to say 'make yourself at home'. But he didn't push it. As he walked around the small house, he saw all the pictures on the wall. Studying each of them closely, he couldn't help but question why Hermione wasn't in any of them. His parents kept pictures of him around the house. Even though his parents kept his pictures up to brag and boast when they had guests over, it was still a decent gesture. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that there wasn't one picture in sight of her, especially given the fact that her family had always seemed a bit closer than his.

He then made his way out of the family room and around the bedrooms. He noted that her parents had a rather large room, with a nice sized closet. As he passed through the hallway, he saw that there was another bathroom and then next to that was a small bedroom. It was done in a bright pink, with a crib in the corner of the room. There were butterflies across the wall, as well as white furniture settled into the room. As he walked further into the room, he noticed the small window across from him, looking out into the yard.

"Draco," Hermione entered the room, wrapped in a big towel.

"Granger, I—uh," He stopped, looking down at her.

"Um, I needed something to wear," Hermione sat down on the wooden floor and gripped a floor board. Pulling it up, she reached down and grabbed a pair of shorts and a loose shirt.

Hermione left the room for a few moments and then came back, fully dressed. She put a large bandage around her leg to prevent it from bleeding any further. When she appeared again, Hermione watched Draco walk around the room a bit longer before looking over at her.

"This is your house, isn't it?" Draco asked.

"It was," She nodded. "My parents are gone; they're on a trip for their twentieth anniversary."

"What do you mean by was?" He looked around the room, "I can't imagine that you sleep in a crib,"

"This used to be my room," Hermione looked around, "It looks like my parents are having another kid."

"That means you'll have another sister, or at least it looks like it's a girl," Draco snickered as he looked over at her, but she was expressionless. "Why are your clothes in floorboards?"

"Because I obliviated my parents." Hermione looked down at her hands. "They don't know that I exist, but I kept a few things in a floorboard in case I ever needed a place to go. It just so happens, that today was their anniversary. Convenient, right? Too convenient. I remember planning their trip with them about six months ago. I made the reservations for the hotel." She thought back.

"I'm—I'm sorry," He said, "Why did you obliviate them?"

"Because it was too dangerous," Hermione breathed. "There were plenty of mudbloods and their families being killed—there still are. I couldn't let my family be slaughtered because of what I am. So I did what was best and I made sure that they would never remember me. They are good people and they deserve to be happy and have a good life."

Hermione looked around the room and tried not to get too upset. But it made her want to cry knowing that she would never know her sister or see her parents again in the same light as she always had. As she bit her lip, Hermione left the room. Draco followed her into her parent's room.

"I'm going to get some rest," Hermione said as she lay down on the bed.

Draco walked away from the room and took a quick shower as well. He put some bandages on his wounds and then looked in the mirror for quite some time. Looking at his reflection, Draco didn't know what to think. After leaving the mirror, he went straight for the kitchen where he found a bottle of wine in the fridge. He opened the bottle and poured himself a few glasses. It was something that could just get his mind off of things for a bit. Normally he would drink the entire bottle if he was home, but since it was Hermione's house, he decided to put it away.

He swallowed the last of the wine in his glass down before putting it in the sink. Draco checked to make sure that the door was locked before walking into Hermione's parent's bedroom. When he entered, he saw Hermione curled up under the covers. So he shut off the light and walked towards her. Though he had mixed feelings about what he was doing, he was too tired to care. This was the first night of actual sleep that he could feel safe and peaceful. Draco slipped underneath the covers alongside her and fell asleep within about twenty minutes.

When Hermione opened her eyes, she turned over and saw him lying next to her. Hermione smiled as she noticed him waking up. Draco was always so stern looking—always so serious. But now he looked calm and at ease. As his eyes slowly opened, Hermione put her hand on his face. Clearing his throat, he blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing clearly. Burrowing herself up close to him, she felt his warmth. Draco was apprehensive but he still put his arm around her carefully. He looked down at her to make sure that she was okay and was surprised to find her still smiling.

"Hermione?" He was still a bit confused.

"Kiss me," She looked up at him.

"What?" He didn't understand what she was doing, or more so why she was doing it.

"Kiss me," She repeated as she put her hands on his neck and kissed him softly.

"Granger—Granger what are you doing?" Draco stopped her.

"Draco?" Hermione asked, opening her eyes a bit wider. She suddenly understood that she was not dreaming, though she thought that she had been.

"What the—"

"I'm sorry, oh my—oh Draco, please forgive me," Hermione shot up from the bed. "I thought I was, oh I'm so stupid!"

"Calm down," Draco said, putting his hand on his head, "It's too early for you to be so loud."

"I can't believe I just did that." She shook her head as she paced the room.

"It's fine, Granger. It's not like we haven't kissed before, but what was all of that about?" He asked, standing to his feet.

"Nothing, I just, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" She took a deep breath.

"You thought you were dreaming, didn't you?" Draco laughed as he walked over to her.

"No!" Hermione cried, "That's, that's insane, I don't dream about you,"

She had the tone in her voice that gave away all too well that she was lying.

"You're a terrible liar, Granger." Draco watched her carefully. "Do you dream about me often?" He sounded so cocky.

"No, I don't." She crossed her arms.

"I'll take that as a yes." He was really enjoying this, "So are we always making out in your dreams?"

"That's real funny, Draco." Hermione left the room, ending the conversation, but Draco still carried on.

"What am I wearing in your dreams?" Draco followed her into the kitchen, "Oh, or should I ask, what am I _not_ wearing?" He couldn't help but to laugh.

"Shut up, Draco." Hermione opened the fridge, "Did you drink last night?" She pulled out the half empty bottle of wine.

"Um, yeah I did." He replied.

"So that's why you got into bed with me?" She put the bottle back in the fridge.

"No, I got in bed with you because I was just a tad bit too tall for the crib and no, I wasn't going to sleep on the couch." Draco said. "What's your problem anyway, after all it was just a dream, it's not that big of a deal. People have all sorts of crazy dreams."

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, "Have you ever dreamt about me before…like, like that?" She crossed her arms waiting for him to reply.

"N-no, of course not," He stammered, becoming a little bit flushed in the face.

"I don't think you're such a good liar, either." She turned away and sat down at the counter. As she grabbed her bag she began searching through it until finally she found a book. Placing it on the table, Hermione pulled out a notebook and started writing down a few things.

"What are you doing?" He looked over at her.

"That stupid homework," She answered.

"Are you serious? You're doing homework at a time like this?" Draco was baffled.

"When we go back to Hogwarts, this needs to be finished."

"When we go back? We can't go back, Granger. My family is out searching for us, and you think that hiding away at Hogwarts is going to save us? In case you've forgotten, they've already taken us from there once and they can do it again." Draco shook his head, "I'm not letting you go back there, in fact I'm not letting you go anywhere without me."

"Controlling much?" Hermione looked down at her homework which she still had absolutely no idea how to do.

"Granger!" Draco grabbed her books and threw them onto the floor. Hermione looked up at him, realizing how serious and angry he had just become. She was a bit scared at how quickly his mood changed. But she sat there silently, deciding that it was best if she just listened to him for once. "They will kill you if they get ahold of you. At least if I'm with you—"

"You could what? Watch me die?" Hermione asked.

"Stop!" Draco yelled, "I'm talking, not you." Hermione watched him more attentively. "Hermione I'm sorry for what happened at the Manor. I wasn't trying to give up or leave you, I was just trying to figure things out. I really was making a plan, you have to believe me. I just needed time to think over things. It killed me when I had to watch you lying on the floor. I hated seeing them torture you, and I just had to stand there and watch."

"Draco—" Hermione tried.

"No, I care about you, okay? I don't know how or why but I do, alright?" He paused and looked at her.

"If we're having a serious talk, I need to ask you a question." Hermione turned to him, "Who's side are you really on? Because I can't stand this constant confusion I have. I don't know if you're trying to help or if you're just trying to get information from me, I don't know what to believe or who I can trust."

"Honestly, I don't know." Draco said. "I don't know how I feel about any of this."

"Alright," Hermione nodded, "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"And if we're being honest, Hermione, there is actually something I need to ask you." Draco spoke up.

"What?" She turned over to him, as she was leaving the room.

"Do you know where Potter and Weasley are?" Draco watched her movements.

"No," Hermione shook her head, "But I'm going to find them if that's the last thing I do."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you keep continue to read on further! There's plenty more to come!

Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Envelope

The sun shined into the room and Draco rolled over. His hand slid around the bed as he tried to find Hermione somewhere beside him. But as he searched, he opened his eyes to find he was alone. He quickly stood up and looked around the room. He looked over at the dresser to find that his wand was lying there. Though he was surprised that she would leave it lying around, he picked it up in case something was wrong. Draco appeared into the living room to see Lucius with his right hand around Hermione's throat and his left gripping his wand tightly. She was struggling for air as her eyes traveled over to Draco.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco pointed his wand at his father.

"Draco," Lucius turned over, with a smile on his face. As he dropped Hermione to the ground, she gasped for air.

"Stay away from her,"

Lucius chuckled as he walked towards his son.

"You wouldn't hurt me, Draco." He shook his head, "I'm your father." He paused, "Did you forget what that mark on your arm means? If the Dark Lord saw you acting like this, he would have you killed."

Draco looked at his father and then looked over to Hermione who was now grabbing for Lucius' wand. However as she reached down, Bellatrix's hand covered hers. She looked up, gasping at the sight of the witch.

"Give me that wand, mudblood." Bellatrix smiled wickedly.

"No," Hermione gripped it tighter, pulling her arm away.

"Two can play that game," Bellatrix laughed loudly, pulling out her wand.

"Sectumsempra!" Hermione cried out, before the elder witch had a chance.

Bellatrix screamed in pain, as she felt a sharp pain against her arm which was now bleeding at an alarming rate. Lucius turned over to see if she was alright.

"Stupefy!" Draco pointed his wand at his father, who fell down to the floor. "Hermione, get out of here!"

But Bellatrix was quick to recover. "Imperio!" She tried stifling a laugh as she neared Draco. "What's the matter my favorite nephew? Why don't you teach this mudblood a little lesson?" She began controlling Draco's mind entirely.

He neared Hermione, against his will with the wand still pointing at her. The look of fear was present in his eyes as he tried to fight his aunt. Hermione stood hesitantly, unsure of what to do. There was no way she was going to fight him, she didn't want to hurt him, so she decided that she'd just have to try to fend him off for a while. As he casted spells at her, she quickly blocked them. But it was getting tiring and she knew that eventually his spells would come quicker and stronger than the last few.

"Oh this is fun; it's like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Really, it's romantic, I'm just so sad it will end so soon. Death can be such a beautiful thing, don't you agree Draco?" Bellatrix bandaged her arm up with a quick spell, before looking back at the two.

Hermione watched as Lucius began moving around on the floor, trying to get to his feet. She hated this option, but it was the only distraction she could think of. Knowing full well that she would regret this later, Hermione lifted up her wand and took a deep breath. This was terrible for her to do but at this point it was her last hope for getting them out of this alive.

"Fiendfyre!" The blast hit the wall which Lucius was now stumbling to his feet in front of. Of course this distracted Bellatrix for a moment, which Hermione took advantage of. Grabbing Draco by the hand, Hermione rushed out of the house through the back door.

When they got to the back yard, Hermione pulled Draco behind her. As she gave one last look to her old house, she felt a tear run down her face. In order to save herself, she had to burn a huge part of her past. She shook her head as she turned away, heading out to the garage. Draco couldn't wrap his head around what was happening. He turned back for a minute to find that his aunt and father were rushing after them, still casting spells and cursing their names.

"Portus!" Hermione cried out as she pointed the wand to a random object.

* * *

Draco opened his eyes, to find that he was on the ground.

"Hermione—" Draco stood up, looking around to find that they were in the middle of a field. "Hermione,"

She opened her eyes carefully before taking a deep breath.

"Hermione," Draco pulled her up, "Where did you take us to?"

"I—oh no," Hermione shook her head, "This isn't good."

"Where are we? Granger, would you bloody answer me!" He grabbed her by the arm.

"The burrow…" She turned away from him. "I was just thinking of somewhere we'd be safe and it's the first place I thought of."

"What is the burrow?" Draco questioned.

"It's—it's the Weasley's house." Hermione said.

"No, I'm going back," Draco sighed, "I'd rather die than set foot in that house,"

"Draco, please," Hermione turned to him with tears in her eyes. "Please just stop okay?"

"Grang—"

"No!" She screamed, "No, don't 'Granger' me! This is the only place left where we are safe, Draco. Please just stop with the complaining and your prideful, stuck up ways, just stop! I am sorry, but this is the only place for right now."

Draco stood in front of her and fell silent. He hadn't realized how arrogant he was coming off. Understanding why she was so frustrated, he nodded in agreement with her. Letting out a small breath, he looked around for a few moments before following her towards the house.

"You should stay out here for a while," Hermione turned to him as they stood near the house. "You have your father's wand, correct?"

"Yes," He answered.

"Okay, if anything happens, just yell for me okay?" Hermione looked at him with sincerity. "I'll be back to get you, I just think it'd be a good idea for me to talk with them before just barging in there."

"Of course," Draco replied.

Hermione entered the front door, and carefully closed it behind her. It was so silent and un-lively, which she wasn't used to. She had only been to The Burrow when everyone else was there. Ginny was more of the quiet one, spending a lot of time in her room alone. Fred and George would constantly be playing tricks or making plans to pull off crazy stunts. Ron and Harry would normally be talking by the fire place for long amounts of time. She looked over to the small chair in the corner, which she spent much of her time in. When the boys talked until late hours, she searched through books trying to collect more information.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley stood on the other side of the room, with wide eyes. "Hermione, George had wrote me and said that you'd gone missing. Have you seen Ron and Harry, dear?"

"N-no," Hermione answered meekly. "No, I haven't, and I'm sorry."

"Where did you go?"

"I can't tell you," Hermione looked at the woman, "It's too dangerous and I don't want you too involved in this."

"Too involved? Hermione, my son has been missing for weeks on end and you think that I shouldn't be too involved?" She seemed confused.

"I'm sorry," Hermione finally spoke up, "For all of this, I am,"

"It's not your fault," Molly Weasley neared the girl, putting her arms around her.

"The more I think about it though, the more it feels like there must have been something I could have done, something I could have said,"

"Don't do that to yourself," She warned, "I've spent too much time putting myself through the same thing, and I promise you it's not worth it."

"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione looked up at her, "I have a favor of you to ask,"

In that moment, Hermione looked at the woman and felt nothing but guilt within her. How could she ask someone who was going through so much to let an enemy stay at her house? There was absolutely nothing that she could do to make her understand. So Hermione knew what she had to do, though it was completely wrong and terrible.

"Can I go upstairs to use the bathroom real quick?" Hermione asked.

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley laughed.

When Hermione went up to the bathroom, she shut the door and then walked through the hallway, to Ginny's room. She grabbed the pillow which laid on her bed and found a piece of her hair. After grabbing a small cauldron which was hidden in the closet, Hermione began rushing around, getting the ingredients she needed to make the potion which she was too familiar with. As she began adding things to it, she remembered when she had to make the Polyjuice potion to turn both Ron and Harry into look-alikes of Crabbe and Goyle so many years ago. After adding Ginny's hair to the potion, Hermione pulled out a small vile from Ginny's desk and filled it up with the liquid.

"Oh, Hermione," Arthur Weasley stood at the bottom of the stairs, "Molly told me you came. How are you?" He gave her a firm hug.

"I'm good, is it alright if I stay for a while? There's some things I need to do for the time being."

"You know you're welcome whenever you like," He smiled at her.

"Thank you," She nodded, "I'm just—I'm going to get some fresh air, okay?"

Hermione approached Draco who had been sitting on the ground for quite a while.

"Take this," Hermione said.

"What is it?"

"Just take it,"

"Tell me what it is," Draco stood up, "Then I'll take it."

"Draco," Hermione looked at him.

"Okay, fine," He took a drink from the vile and within a small amount of time, Hermione watched him turn into a figure that looked much like Ginny's.

"What the—" Draco looked down at himself, realizing he had turned a lot more womanly. "Granger if you don't have a very good reason for this—"

"I do," Hermione said, "If you look like Ginny, you'll be fine. They'll never know the difference, just act timid and lady like."

"Oh, because I'm so good at both of those things," Draco sarcastically said.

"Just don't screw this up," Hermione said as she led him into the house.

"Ginny?" Arthur asked as he stood up from a chair. Molly looked over to Draco and smiled brightly.

"Ginny!" The two parents rushed over to hug him.

"This was not part of the plan, but Ginny is going to stay with me for the next few days, it's safer for her." Hermione explained.

"Okay," Molly nodded. "Oh, I've missed you," She hugged Draco again.

"Ginny and I are really tired, it's been a long day, so we're going to head on upstairs okay?" Hermione pulled Draco away from the Weasley's.

"Alright, sleep tight," Molly called after them.

Hermione shut the bedroom door and let out a sigh. Who was she becoming? This wasn't like her at all. She wasn't one to lie or to set houses on fire. She took a larger vile from the desk and filled it with the rest of the potion. She figured it would be a good idea to always have some handy if they would be there for a while. When Hermione turned around to see Draco, he was looking around anxiously. Biting her lip, she moved closer to him.

"It will only take a little bit longer, it will wear off." Hermione locked the door.

"I'm aware," He muttered.

"You're mad,"

"What gave you that idea?" He questioned, turning away from her.

"I'm sorry, but what else was I supposed to do?" Hermione asked, "If you have a better plan in mind, why don't you just speak up?"

"My plan would have been safer, I can tell you that." Draco shot at her, "Did you even stop to think what you would do as soon as you left the Manor?"

She stood silent, watching him closely.

"Exactly; you didn't." Draco took a deep breath, "We can't stay here for long, they'll find us again and I don't think that you want the Weasley's to have to die because of us, now would you?"

"I wasn't planning on us staying for long," Hermione said.

"Well tell me then, Granger. What is your plan exactly? Because we can't keep hoping to make it out of situations alive because of sheer dumb luck," He turned back to her.

"I just—" She stopped, realizing that she had no plan.

"Right, well I'm leaving tomorrow morning." Draco said.

"You're leaving?" Hermione asked.

"Yes,"

"Where do you think you're going to go? Do you honestly think you'll be safe anywhere?" Hermione crossed her arms.

"Listen, if you have a death wish go ahead and keep all these games up, but I personally would rather not die. So I'm going to go back to my home. I'm going to take the blame and I'm going back to how things used to be. I won't tell them of your presence here, I'll lie and make up some story about you disappearing." Draco said.

"No," She shook her head.

"You can find Potter and Weasley and do whatever you'd like. By any means, I'm not stopping you." Draco cleared his throat.

"Draco," Hermione tried to hide the hurt in her voice, but it was still clearly heard.

"Granger," He took a step away from her.

"I thought—I, I…" Hermione stopped.

"We never would have worked, Granger. Everything that happened between us, it was just because we were both lonely, okay?" He looked down at her.

"None of it…none of it actually mattered to you?" Hermione asked, looking down at her hands and then back up to him.

Draco shook his head as he watched the girl. Quickly, she left the room, leaving him alone. He sighed as he shut off the light and went to bed. However, right next to the room, Hermione sat on the floor, crying into a pillow that belonged to George. Gripping it tightly, she hid her face and tried to regain a normal breathing pattern. She spent a few hours wide awake before she finally gave herself away to sleep. But her nights were filled of nightmares that she couldn't possibly stand.

In the morning, Hermione made her way to Ginny's room. She decided if she got there early enough, she could maybe talk some sort of sense into him. But when she opened the door, she found that the room was empty. Hermione looked to the desk where an envelope laid. On the front of it, her name was written. A noise made Hermione turn quickly, putting the envelope in her back pocket.

"Hermione," Molly appeared.

"Yes?" She turned around.

"I got a letter from Ginny this morning." Molly crossed her arms.

"Y-you did?" Hermione was surprised.

"Who was here last night?" Mrs. Weasley looked at her sternly, "Enough with the lies, Hermione. This isn't like you at all. I don't care how dangerous this is, tell me the truth."

"I have to go," Hermione ran for the door, tripping over Arthur Weasley when she got to the end of the stairs. Quickly, she pushed herself back up and ran out of the house and straight into the tall cornstalks. After running for over an hour, Hermione stopped as she was completely out of breath.

Hermione pulled out the envelope from her pocket and looked at it for quite some time. She knew that Draco had written it for her, but she didn't want to open it. In her heart, she already knew what it said. It would be the classic 'it's not you, it's me' speech. Plus, she needed to get her head straight and her priorities in order. There were a lot of things she needed to do if she was going to find out where Harry and Ron were. More importantly, she knew where she'd have to go to start looking.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to keep reading the story! Thank you so much to all my followers and readers, it really means so much!

Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Pre-Author Note: I would just like to start out with a small pre-note to explain this chapter a bit more. I hope you don't mind but this chapter is a bit jumpy because it shows what every main character is doing. Some song suggestions are "_Breath of Life_" and "_No Light, No Light_" by Florence + The Machine.

* * *

Draco stood heavily in front of the Malfoy Manor. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and made his way inside to where his mother and father were talking in whispers. When they saw him, they became a bit angry. Bellatrix wandered into the room as well, with her wand at hand. But she didn't have to use it. He immediately fell to his knees in front of them, looking at the cold floor.

"Draco," Lucius walked forward.

"I'm sorry, father." Draco whispered.

"How do I know that you'll be loyal?" Lucius questioned.

"Lucius—he is our son," Nacrissa reached forward to her husband.

"Is this mark not good enough?" Draco pulled his sleeve up.

"It wasn't good enough the first time, now was it?" Lucius stared at his son who looked helpless.

"I took this from her," Draco pulled out both Lucius' and his wand. "While she was sleeping, I took them both and I escaped."

"You act as though she held you captive, Draco." Lucius shook his head, "I know very well that you wanted to be with her, on her side."

"I did, but I came to my senses, I realized I was wrong. I'm not one of them, father." Draco looked up at Lucius, "I'm not like them at all. I'll do anything."

"Anything," Lucius snickered, "Don't be so quick—"

"I have a few ideas," Bellatrix chuckled, pointing her wand at the boy.

"Bellatrix," Lucius stopped her, "Draco, have you ever heard of an unbreakable vow?"

"Y-yes," Draco nodded.

"If we were to form one, you would have to fulfill whatever task I give you. Would you be willing to do that since you are suddenly so faithful to me?" Lucius asked.

"Let me remind you that he is supposed to be faithful to the Dark Lord, not to you." Nacrissa budded in.

"I am his father!" Lucius snapped, turning to his wife and slapping her across the face.

"I will do it," Draco said.

"What if I ask you to kill the mudblood?" Lucius asked.

Draco's eyes met his father. He couldn't possibly ask him to do such a thing. There was absolutely no way that Draco could fulfill that task. Taking a moment to over think things he decided that he'd rather die given the option, which of course was the consequence for not following through an unbreakable vow.

"That's too easy," Bellatrix chimed in, looking at Lucius. "Lucius, can we talk in private for a moment?"

Lucius left the room, leaving both his son and wife. They stayed away for quite a while, discussing matters. Nacrissa put her hand on her face, remembering the slap she was given. Draco watched his mother and tried to find some sort of pity for her, some sort of sympathy but he could find none. She chose to be with such an evil man, she chose all of this. He bit his tongue, realizing at the moment that he was also choosing to be with the man—his father that is. At this moment he was deciding his own destiny, though it wasn't what he really wanted.

"Draco, we've decided your punishment. Since just simply killing her would be _too_ easy, and since it seems that Bellatrix herself would like to kill her, we've come up with something a bit different. I have to admit, your aunt has brilliant ideas sometimes." Lucius smile was evil as he gave a small laugh.

Draco swallowed hard as he listened to what his father had planned.

* * *

Ron looked over to find Harry sitting on the ground. He looked upset, more than he had yesterday. As he neared his friend, he knelt down and gave him a soft smile.

"It's alright, mate." Ron nodded, "We're going to get through this."

"I don't know where the last two could be," Harry shook his head, "I don't know a thing."

"It will take time," Ron sighed.

"Are you okay?" Harry stopped thinking about his own problems, and focused more on Ron.

"Yeah, it's just, I really miss Hermione. Sometimes I wish that we would have brought her along. I know that it's dangerous and that's why we didn't want her to come along but she would have been helpful." Ron looked down at his dirty hands. "She's always helpful."

"You never told me exactly what you two talked about that night, before we left." Harry put his hands on his knees.

"Nothing was said," Ron shook his head. "But I found her in the hallway and I just kissed her." He laughed at himself, "Kind of stupid I guess, but I couldn't even say anything."

"Well, what did she do?" Harry asked, "After you kissed her,"

"Nothing, she just stood there. I couldn't read the expression on her face, I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I should have at least tried to talk to her, but I didn't. We've been friends for years and it took me until now to realize how much I feel for her. And the moment that I finally got my chance, I just blew it."

"You didn't blow it," Harry disagreed.

"I just want to talk to her," Ron admitted.

"The sooner we find the last Horcruxes, the sooner we'll be able to see Hermione and Ginny." Harry had a smile on his face, thinking of the girl.

"You miss her too, don't you?" Ron looked over to Harry.

"Terribly," He replied.

* * *

Hermione stumbled up to the entrance. She could feel people staring at her in the courtyard. As she placed her hand on the door, she pushed it open. Wiping left over blood from her face, Hermione managed to make her way to the common room. The first thing Hermione noted was that George was sitting by the fire. She gave a smile as she got closer, remembering all the late nights that stayed up talking to one another.

"George," Hermione neared him, realizing that he wasn't alone. In fact, he was passionately kissing Angelina Johnson. Her heart pounded, though she knew this shouldn't have bothered her. She told him that they couldn't be together, she ended the whole thing. But as she stared at the two, Hermione couldn't help but to feel like she had been replaced during her absence.

"Hermione?" George turned to see her. Angelina still had her arms around him, but was now slowly letting him go.

"I should go," Angelina stood up and awkwardly left the room.

"Hermione," George stood up walking over to her. "Your—your face is bleeding."

Hermione just stared at him, unsure of how to act. Her heart was still pounding and her stomach was knotting up.

"Hermione," He repeated, getting her attention. "Where were you?"

"A lot of places," Hermione answered.

"What are you doing back?"

"I'm going to find Ron and Harry," Hermione answered him.

"Good luck with that, plenty of people have been looking."

"I'm pretty sure that I have some ideas." Hermione replied. "I've come back to get some things together and then I'm heading out."

"Let me go with you," George said quickly.

"No, no I'm going alone." Hermione told him, "You can stay here, tongue tied with Johnson,"

"Is someone jealous?" George laughed.

"No," Hermione stammered, looking away. "I have to go."

"Hermione," He called after her. "Do you know of Draco's absence?"

"Yes," She answered.

"Are you working together?" He lowered his voice, "Is he pretending to help you?"

"No," Hermione shook her head.

"Good; and don't trust him, Hermione. If he comes around, push him away. Draco is not a good person and he can't be trusted." George spoke.

"I know," Hermione said in an agitated way. "Believe it or not, George I know what the bloody Hell I'm doing."

"I don't think you do," George put his hands in his pockets, "But good luck, Granger. Though I think we both know you don't need it."

Hermione stared at George for a few moments. She had mixed feelings on what she wanted to do. She was angry at him, yet she wanted to hug him. A part of her wanted to kiss him, though another part of her wanted to slap him for kissing Angelina. The worst part was she knew that she had absolutely no excuse or reason for being this upset. He wasn't tied down to her, they weren't dating and she had made that very clear. So after clearing her throat, Hermione turned and left the room.

* * *

"Draco, do you understand the task I have given you?" Lucius questioned.

"Yes, father," Draco answered, taking a deep breath.

"Good. Oh and you have a visitor." His father left the room.

Draco watched the door until finally it slid open. A snake slithered across the floor, hissing and biting the air in a threatening way. The room became cold and tense. As Draco looked up to see his 'visitor' he wasn't surprised to see that it was none other than Voldemort himself. He stayed on the ground, understanding that this would be his punishment for the crime that he committed. He wasn't going to fight it or try to make excuses, it was time for him to be a man and take responsibility for his actions.

"Draco, I did hope that you weren't like your father. But so far you have proven me wrong. You do know that I was on your side? I'll continue to stay on your side if you complete the task at hand. But my poor Draco, if you don't succeed, I'm afraid that you shouldn't be around for much longer, being that you'd have no use." Voldemort's snake hissed at Draco, biting just in front of him, but he never flinched. "You do know what you did wrong, yes?"

"Yes, my Lord," Draco muttered under his breath.

"Crucio!" Voldemort cried into the room, and Draco's body went under excruciating pain. Voldemort continued on with the punishment for almost two hours, before finally letting Draco fall to the ground. Draco lay in pain that he had never felt before. A tear escaped his eye as he tried to move, but couldn't. All the spells that Voldemort used on him had huge after affects and he was beginning to understand that he would be laying there for quite some time.

That night, Draco finally made it to his bed, where he could get rest. But as he closed his eyes, his imagination came alive. He dreamt of Hermione in all sorts of ways that he never thought he would. But with the next passing days, Hermione seemed to constantly cloud his mind and there was no way he could escape from it. A pain was constantly welled up in his chest, which he could only imagine was the feeling of guilt. He had never hurt this way before, not only the pains from Voldemort's punishment remained evident on him, but the grief he was having over leaving Hermione in such a way.

* * *

Hermione turned over on her bed, still wearing the clothes she had been for a while. She was having a nightmare about Bellatrix, when her eyes suddenly shot open. Quickly she grabbed for her wand so she could cast lumos to make sure that she was still in the dormitory. But as she reached around in her pockets, she realized that Draco's wand was gone. She gasped, though she shouldn't have been surprised.

"Damn it, Draco," Hermione said under her breath as she buried her head into her pillow.

He never ceased to amaze her.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please continue to read!

Thanks!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Nightmare

Author's Pre-note: Just a few song recommendations! "_It Was You_" by 12 Stones and "_You_" by Breaking Benjamin. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Two months had past; meaning a lot of things had changed. Hermione was off searching for her two companions and they were both searching for horcruxes. Draco stayed at the Malfoy Manor with his father, spending many nights lying awake. He had a task to complete, one that he dreaded, but knew that his only other option was to die a brutal death. At this point, Draco didn't care about pleasing his family, he had already defied them once and he would willingly do it again, but this consequence was more serious. It wasn't in a selfish way that he didn't want to go through with this, but more of an unselfish way. Draco hated to admit it, but if he was being honest with himself, he really loathed the idea of never seeing Hermione Granger again.

He bit his lip, wondering if Hermione was doing the same. He had picked up this awful habit from her which he used to think was foolish, but now found irresistible. Maybe he was turning insane being locked up in this hostile place for so long, but he didn't mind one bit. In this exact moment the only thing keeping him breathing was her. As he let out a small gasp, he jumped up from his bed. Nacrissa had opened the door and thrown in a small, feeble girl. Though at the back of his mind, he wondered if it would be Hermione, Draco knew better. It couldn't be her—that would be far too easy.

The timid girl pushed herself up, looking around the gloomy room. She wasn't surprised to see Draco but Draco was shocked to see her. Nacrissa looked at the girl in disgust, still not breathing a word in her direction. After some time passed, the unpleased woman turned away and left the room muttering a few words under her breath which were completely inaudible. The girl then turned away, crossing her arms in a child-like manner.

"Luna?" Draco got to his feet eagerly.

"Stay away from me!" She said, looking rudely over at the tall boy.

"Luna, I need to talk to you," He reached out for her.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed.

He took this moment to examine the girl. She was always odd—since the time Draco could remember her. Luna never fit in with the other girls, she always had an odd aura about her. But he could tell that there was something more going on, this wasn't normal even for her. As her gaze shifted down to the floor, her head turned slightly to the left. Draco neared her, seeing that she had a long scar on her face which was now bleeding. He sighed to himself before turning away to get his wand.

"Please," Luna cried out, "Please don't,"

"Episkey," He softly said as he watched her wound repair itself.

As he motioned forward to touch her, she moved backwards, pushing herself up against the wall.

"Luna, I need you to tell me what you know," Draco said calmly.

"I won't tell you anything!" Luna said.

* * *

Hermione passed a few trees before putting her bag down on the ground. Making a large path, she walked around in a circle whispering "Cave Inimicum", which would strengthen her hiding spot. When she was finished, she set up a tent and took out a few books she had secretly borrowed from the library at Hogwarts. She paced the tent and tried to memorize a few more things before letting out a small breath. Eventually, she lay down on a small bunk in the tent and looked upwards. Reaching for her bag, she pulled out the envelope that Draco had written for her a while ago. Giving it a long look, Hermione began crying. She wanted to open it more than anything right now, but her heart was already broken and she didn't want to do anymore damage.

A noise outside of the tent made Hermione jump up from the bunk. She quickly went to the opening and looked around, holding her wand up high. As she peered around the tent, she found herself alone. Regaining her breath in a steady pace, Hermione put her hand over her heart. When she turned around to head towards the front, she stopped dead in her tracks. There in front of her was both Ron and Harry walking around the woods looking for something.

"Ron!" Hermione cried out, "Harry!"

She ran through where she had blocked off the tent and rushed to the two boys who were standing with smiles on their faces. When she reached the two, she swung an arm around each of them, hugging them tightly. A few tears fell from her face as she felt a feeling that she'd gone for so long without. Pulling away from them, she got a good look at the boys who truthfully looked like a mess. They followed her to her tent and sat down before they began talking.

"What are you doing out here?" Ron asked.

"I've been looking for you guys, for two months actually," Hermione explained, "I can't believe I actually found you. I was getting ready to go back to Hogwarts."

"Have you been keeping up with the schools current condition?" Harry wondered.

"I haven't kept in contact with anyone." Hermione answered him before sitting down across from them. "A lot has happened, actually."

"Well we have enough time," Ron said softly.

"Trust me, just stupid things, nothing worth talking about," She shook her head, realizing that it was better to just pretend like none of that even happened. She couldn't tell Ron and Harry about Draco, not now. "How far have you gotten with the horcruxes?"

"We have two left to find," Harry cleared his throat, looking doubtfully at the ground.

"Don't worry," Hermione smiled, touching Harry's hand in a reassuring way.

Ron caught notice of this. Hermione could see from the corner of her eye that his mouth twisted upward a bit in uncertainty. She moved her hand away a bit too quickly, making both boys take note of her nervous actions. Standing up and turning away, she let out a small breath as she rubbed the back of her neck which was becoming rather sore. Harry sat there next to Ron for quite some time as Hermione went outside of the tent for some fresh air.

"She's acting weird, don't you think?" Ron turned over to see his friend.

"She has been by herself for two months searching for us, Ron." Harry pointed out.

"Who's wand was she carrying?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure, I was wondering the same thing." Harry scratched the back of his neck as Hermione re-entered.

"Hermione, who's is that?" Ron pointed to the wand in her hand.

"Oh-um," Hermione paused.

"It looks familiar," Harry added.

"It's uh—it's actually one that I made myself using a few spells. I lost mine," Hermione lied, biting her lip.

* * *

A few days past and nothing seemed to change about Luna and Draco's relationship. She barely talked to him, though he tried to get her to open up.

"Luna, why won't you talk to me?" Draco stood up from his bed, angrily. She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes. "You're afraid I'm going to hurt you, aren't you? You're afraid I'm going to use the information for the wrong reasons, don't you?"

Luna looked at him with a straight face. She didn't want to let him know what she was thinking, she didn't want him to know what was going on in her mind. She didn't want him to have that as an advantage over her. Though it was easy to tell that she was scared, she didn't want him to know the extent of it. As he crossed over in the room in front of her, she stumbled to her feet.

"What do I have to do to prove to you that I don't want to harm you?" Draco questioned, looking down at her.

"There's nothing you can do to make me trust you." Luna said confidently.

"Funny, I knew a girl who felt the very same way at one point. But she changed her mind," He got closer to her, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Pansy Parkinson always trusted you," Luna stated, "After all, you both feel very much the same about a lot of things."

"It wasn't Pansy," Draco laughed, "No, it was someone far more…interesting."

"And just who would that be?" Luna questioned, feeling rather suffocated by both him and the wall planted behind her.

"Granger," Draco said.

"You're lying, Hermione would never trust you," Luna shook her head.

"You really do think that I'm that bad, don't you?"

"I don't think you're the bad guy, Draco. But I do think that you're in a position that is uncompromising. I think that you are not the right person to trust given the timing." Luna finally told him.

"I want to help you," Draco told her, "I just need to know about her."

"About who?" Luna wondered.

"Granger,"

"What about her?" Luna questioned.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Draco stood, with a look on his face that Luna hadn't seen before.

"My God," Luna whispered looking up at him.

"What?" He asked anxiously.

"You love her, don't you?" Luna's mouth parted slightly in shock.

"What? N-no, I don't. I do not, but I just need to know…" Draco paused and swallowed hard. "I just need to know that she's alright, Lovegood. Please just tell me."

"I would tell you, but I don't have any answers. About two months ago she appeared at Hogwarts for maybe a few days and then she up and left. No one has heard from her since. I don't know, maybe she went back. But I haven't seen her, no one has." Luna crossed her arms. "Why do you need to know that?"

"Shit," Draco shook his head in frustration.

"What is it?" Luna asked, following him across the room.

"I bet she went to look for those two little—"

"Draco," Luna cut him off in the same manner that Hermione would. "Of course she would go to look for them, they're her best friends."

"I know, I just," He stopped again, looking away.

"Draco, whatever happened between you two…I may not understand it, but I know what it's like to love someone and then just be ripped away from them, without knowing anything." Luna said.

"I don't love her," He growled.

"Well whatever it is you feel for her, it's pretty deep whether you chose to believe so or not," Luna exclaimed. "And no matter what you feel for her, you can't change who she is, Draco."

He looked over at her, but said nothing. Although he hated to agree with "Looney Lovegood", she was actually right. No one could change Hermione Granger.

* * *

"Hermione," Ron walked outside of the tent to see her sitting in front of a small fire. "You've been staring aimlessly for the past hour, is something on your mind?"

"No," She didn't turn from the flames.

"Can we—can we talk for a little bit, Hermione?" Ron sat down next to her.

"Of course," She then looked over to him.

"The night before we left," He paused, trying to search for a reaction but none was present, "When I kissed you…"

"Ron, I don't want to worry about this, not now." She blurted out. "I don't want to worry about us like that while we're fighting like this, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah you're right, I'm sorry," Ron stood up, feeling uncomfortable.

"Ron," Hermione breathed, standing up.

She wanted to tell him the truth more than anything. After all, he did deserve to know. But it was too hard for her to even try to explain. She would have to start off with George and how things escalated so quickly, which wouldn't be pleasant. Then she would have to continue with her friendship that grew into something more though she wasn't quite sure what to call it with the "enemy". Hermione couldn't bring herself to tell Ron, because she knew that he would hate her and that made her feel broken inside and alone. Plus, he would have so many questions, in fact too many questions and to be honest, Hermione really didn't have too many answers to give.

"It isn't right, that you can love someone and yet do everything in your power to destroy that relationship and bond," Hermione said under her breath, so that Ron couldn't hear.

"What?" He turned around.

"N-nothing," She shook her head letting out a deep breath.

"Hermione, don't cry," Ron got closer to her, "It's okay, everything is going to be okay."

Hermione looked at the boy in front of her. His words meant absolutely nothing to her because she knew the ugly truth, not a pretty lie. Biting her tongue to the point where she tasted blood, she shook her head and crossed her arms. How could she have ruined a relationship that would have been so strong? How could she hurt someone who cared for her so much this? It was eating her alive and she just wanted to come out and say it, but she couldn't. This was awful timing and they needed to keep focus on what was really important to them. But at the same time, hiding the truth was clouding up both her brain and heart. She had to be honest with herself in the fact that she wasn't who she normally was. She had changed a lot given the past few months. She had lied to people that she loved, snuck around behind others backs and turned her back on ones who loved her. All of this was a nightmare, but it was one that she knew she'd never wake up from.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

How the Beast Fell for the Beauty

Hermione reached her arms around the boy, who was now overpowering her. He pushed her backwards and held onto her tightly. As he kissed her violently, she trembled beneath him. She was scared and her pulse raced just under her skin. Goose bumps crawled along her flesh and for an instant, she felt as though she would faint. She had felt this so many times before, yet it still took her breath away. It sent her head in a spin and her stomach in a whirl. Swallowing hard, she pulled him closer, though all of her senses wanted to push him further and further away.

"Granger," He looked down at her.

"W-what?" Hermione barely got out.

"You know what this means, don't you? You know what you have to do?" Draco questioned as he kissed her further.

"I know," She nodded, "I know, Draco."

Hermione felt a terrible pain in her body, making her jolt. But it wasn't a pain caused by anything but the given situation. It was her conscious kicking in, her humanity taking over and her mind clearing up. All of it hit her at once as she realized what she was doing—what this meant. Wanting to hurl, Hermione opened her eyes in a scared notion, this couldn't happen, she wouldn't do this to everyone who had loved her. She wasn't this selfish, was she?

* * *

"Hermione," A voice called, "Hermione,"

She sprang up from the small cot and opened her eyes, with an open mouth. Grabbing her throbbing head, her lips stayed parted as she tried clearing her throat. Ron watched her carefully to make sure that she was physically okay. It had been a few weeks now of their constant searching and still they had nothing to show for it. Hermione slid her feet to the ground and quickly got up. Pulling out her wand, she looked at it for a few moments and then put it in her pocket. Ron stayed close next to her, not leaving her side just yet.

"If you have something to say," Hermione turned to Ron quickly.

"I do," Ron nodded, "I actually do."

"Well that's great, Ron, since you have been staring at me like a lost puppy for the past few weeks!" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione, what have you been dreaming about? Every single night, like clockwork you begin having these nightmares, can you please just explain them?" Ron asked.

"No," Hermione said sternly as she walked out of the tent and outside, where Harry was currently trying to build a fire.

"If something is troubling you, you should talk about it. It's been proven that if you are having bad dreams, talking about it with someone else can help make those dreams go away." Ron said, "Right, Harry?"

Harry looked over at his friend, trying to react properly, but not really sure how. He didn't want to upset Hermione any further but he didn't want to disappoint Ron either. So he looked at the two for a few moments. Hermione had her arms crossed as she looked out around the forest, probably thinking of something both witty and clever to say. Ron stood hopelessly, trying to get Harry to agree. Harry had watched the two bicker and fight since the night they had reunited. He wasn't necessarily sad that they had met up, because he really did need Granger's help and rational mind. But he couldn't stand how immature the two had been acting. Their behaviors were making it hard for him to concentrate on the big picture. He had almost wished that it was Ginny who they had found—only because he knew that if he could spend time with the one that he truly loved right now, he wouldn't waste it with arguing.

"Yeah, yeah I think I've heard that before." Harry then turned away from the two.

"See? Even Harry agrees, come on," Ron reached for her, but she pulled away.

"If I wanted to talk to you, don't you think I would have said something by now?" Hermione asked.

Ron became silent, realizing that this had two different meanings. He might not have been as bright as her when it came to school work, but Ron was certainly not stupid. He knew exactly what she meant by that statement. Not only would she talk to him about her dreams if she wanted him to know, but she would talk to him about their relationship in regards to where exactly they stand if she wanted to. But it was clear now, as if it wasn't before that she wanted nothing to do with him in that sense. So he nodded, and then calmly walked away back into the tent.

She knew what she said was harsh, and she regretted it a little. But maybe pushing him away was for his own good anyway. If he grew to hate her for just being her, it wouldn't be a surprise when all of her secrets unraveled. It made her sick to think about, but she decided that she didn't care about herself anymore. For that matter, she didn't care if she came out of this dead or alive, she just wanted them to be happy for once, and most of all to be safe. But she also knew that they still had a long road to travel and it would by no means be an easy one.

Not only did she not want to tell Ron about her dreams because of what was in them, but she honestly didn't know if she wanted those dreams to go away. When she first began having them, she despised them and was disgusted by the very idea of it. But over time when she got closer to Draco and especially with their last few breakouts, she almost seemed to cling onto her dreams no matter how depressing or haunting they had seemed. Her dreams were the only place that she could see Draco now. So it was her dreams that she would dwell in.

* * *

"You know, you never told me about what exactly happened," Draco sat on his bed and watched Luna from across the room.

"You mean how I got captured?" Luna questioned.

"Yeah," He nodded.

"Kind of hard to explain," Luna looked down at the floor. "But maybe, if you tell me some of your stories, I could tell you some of mine. It looks like we're both going to be here for a while anyway."

"Do you know what they want from you?" Draco asked.

"I think we both know what they want from me. They want answers, information, all these things that I can't provide from them, but they won't believe me." Luna looked to him and then back to the ground. She had several large bruises and cuts on her body that were visible. They were treating her much like they had treated Hermione.

"What do you want to know about my story, Luna?" Draco crossed his arms.

"I want to know how exactly the beast fell for the beauty," Luna replied, "Or even how the beauty fell for the beast."

"I would like to know that too," Draco laughed, and then fell silent thinking back. "Hermione saved me, the night of the dance." He thought back, "My father came to take me away, and when they saw her, they took her too. They treated her the way you're being treated now. But she didn't know anything. I didn't believe her to be honest, but after a long while of being close to her, I began to figure out how to tell if she was lying or not."

"She was never a good liar," Luna smiled.

"No, she definitely was not." Draco stated. "She began to change me…in a lot of ways that I still can't quite understand. The way she spoke to me, the way she acted, I don't know why she did what she did for me. But she gave me miles and asked for nothing in return. She saved me that night in the astronomy tower, but she saved me more than once. I think she might have saved me in a lot more ways than she will ever know."

"It's not surprising," Luna giggled, "I mean, you both are so stubborn, but…if two people who are complete opposites are around each other for long enough, they'll begin to realize how much they actually have in common."

"Maybe," Draco snapped back into reality, "Now, tell me your story."

"It was just a wrong place, wrong time situation. I was on my way to Hogsmeade." Luna said, "I happened to overhear something that I don't think I was supposed to. Your father was talking in hushed tones to someone who was covered in all black. I never made out exactly what they were saying, but they didn't believe me. The cloaked one wanted to kill me, but your father decided that I might know something. He said that he'd seen me around Hermione before and that if she knew anything, I would also know."

"I don't understand what their obsession is with thinking that everyone knows something. Everyone knows that Potter and Weasley are out looking for horcruxes, but they did it in a sly manner, so no one could follow their tracks and no one would know. The two idiots thought they would keep all their friends safe by not telling them any information," Draco sighed, "But all that they did was put them in harm's way." He paused and shook his head. "And damn that Granger for going out there like some sort of hero,"

"Heroine," Luna corrected.

"Whatever!" He stammered, "She shouldn't be in the middle of this, this isn't her problem! It's not her mess to clean up, yet she's so quick to jump for those two brats."

"Those two brats are her best friends, Draco. Take that into some consideration. Think of—of Crab or Goyle. If they were in a life-threatening situation, wouldn't you go and help them?" Luna questioned.

Draco stared at her, feeling low. She didn't know that he'd already been put in a position that he had to decide whether to help or not. But he didn't. But maybe it was different because Draco never had any real friends, who really cared about him for who he was. He had acquaintances, and people who loved him for who they thought he was. He had people like Pansy who was only with him because of his bloodline and wealth, and yes at one time that's all that he thought mattered in life. So at that given point in his life, he thought that those were friends and that she was a lover. But when Hermione changed his point of view, everything changed with it. He realized that those weren't true friends and he knew that he still didn't have any. The only thing he had left in the world was Hermione and she was off trying to save the world and mend all the pieces together to make sense of things, just like she always did. And here he was, being cowardly and afraid, staying in the shadows, wishing he could do something, anything. But he also had a vow that he could not break, because his life depended on it.

"Get up," Lucius whipped open the door.

Luna scrambled to her feet and took a deep breath. Lucius grabbed her by the back of her hair and threw her to the floor, just for fun. As he yanked her up from the ground, he punched her, pushing her against the wall. She slid down to the floor once more and let out a small shriek of pain. Draco watched with wide eyes. He imagined Hermione as Luna for a few moments. He had witnessed this all too many times before and it was driving him insane. If she was Luna, if she was being hammered into by some man like his father, he would knock him senseless until there was no life left in the man. Luna had showed him kindness, she had showed him loyalty and respect, which he never gave to her. So without hesitation, Draco pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it at his father who was turned away from him.

"Stupefy!" Draco shouted and his father fell to the ground.

Luna looked up to see Draco standing there boldly.

"Why—why did you do that?" Luna asked, trying to push herself up using the wall to balance herself.

"Because you are my—my," Draco stopped, this was the hardest thing he had ever had to say. Draco didn't say these kinds of things, to anyone for that matter. It made him feel uneasy and uncomfortable. So he cleared his throat again and then softly spoke, "Because Luna, you are my—my uh, my friend."

Luna smiled slightly as she walked over to Draco. Reaching her arms around him, she hugged him. Though Draco stood there in a tense and edgy manner, he forced himself to put his arms around her and tap her back lightly. That's when it hit him that this would be what proved to her that she could trust him. This might be his only chance to get to Hermione again.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Hope you've liked it so far and continue to read more! It might be a while for the next chapter to be uploaded because my college classes have started and I have a ton of work to do. But thank you for being so patient and kind!

Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Better Than Me"

Author's Pre-note: Here's some song suggestions for the chapter! "_Shattered"_ by Trading Yesterday and "_Goodbye_" Secondhand Serenade.

* * *

Hermione paced the woods by herself on a late evening. She was trying to distract herself from everything that had been going on. Between the pointless arguing with Ron, she was also dealing with Harry who seemed to mope around most of the day. It was hard to keep their spirits up, and she began wondering how the two made it on their own for all this time. As she passed a few more trees, she stopped and looked around. She tried to take in the beauty of the nature which was surrounding her.

"Hermione," Harry approached her.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Hermione said a bit short temperedly. "I know, you've called for me several times now."

"Can you just talk to me like a human being for once?" Harry questioned rather quickly.

"W-what are you talking about?" Hermione turned, a bit confused.

"Never mind," Harry shook his head.

"No, tell me!" Hermione cried.

"I'm sick of this, okay?" Harry neared her. "I am sick of you treating me like I am a child and I am tired of listening to you and Ron bicker! We have more important things to worry about! Have you forgotten that Voldemort is still out there? Did it slip your mind that we're not safe? If you don't want to help, then don't. You can go right back where you came from—wherever the hell that is, since you won't tell us anything. But don't waste our time with all of this, it isn't fair."

Standing silently, Hermione's mouth opened. Harry was never one to lose his temper but every once in a blue moon, he really lost it. She understood that he was under a lot of pressure and he was probably feeling alone. But it still didn't give him the right to be so rude, did it? Though when she took what he said into consideration, she could really understand where he was coming from. She knew that she had a tendency to be a bit mother-like, and she knew her and Ron weren't getting along at all recently.

"I know," Hermione nodded, swallowing hard to hold back the tears that were just begging to spill out.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized, "Really, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine," Hermione spoke, "You're right. I wasn't thinking straight and I need to. It isn't fair to you."

"What are you two talking about?" Ron made his way closer to them.

"Nothing," Harry turned to his friend.

Ron stood and looked at the two. Hermione was looking at the ground, with her normal guilty face. Harry seemed too quick to respond, making him seem rather impatient and uneasy. As he rubbed his forehead, Harry quickly left the two standing there and made his way back to the tent. Ron stared on at Hermione who was now looking at him or more so straight through him. He looked at the trees for a minute before continuing to talk to her.

* * *

"Draco, where are we?" Luna asked him as they entered a dark house.

"I don't exactly know," He replied, looking around the house with his wand held up, providing them with light.

"Then why are we here?" She wondered as they turned down a different hallway.

"I'm just trying to find a place we can stay at for a while where no one will find us. If we stay at a place that even I don't know, there's no way that others will be able to find us." Draco began turning on lamps in the house as they walked through.

"I can't believe we left—just like that." Luna whispered.

"It wasn't my first time," Draco mentioned.

After the two searched the house and made sure the coast was clear, they sat down in the living room. The house looked like it had been lived in but not for a really long time. Draco went to the kitchen and began searching for a few things. There wasn't very much left, but thankfully the things that were there were nonperishable items. So he made some dinner for Luna, who still sat in the living room.

"What are you doing?" She finally entered the small kitchen.

"I made you dinner," Draco handed a plate to her. "It's not much, but it's all I found."

"You did what?" She took the plate from him.

"I know you haven't eaten all day, so I just…" He stopped, looking at her to see the reaction.

She set it down on the table and smiled at him. It was hard to believe that he was actually doing nice things for her, especially now. Even students who weren't "enemies" happened to be rather rude to her because of her personality and her actions. As she turned around to thank him, she noted he was gone. Giving a small smile to the food, Luna sat down at the table and began eating.

* * *

"Hermione, look at me," Ron said in a hushed tone.

But she stared at the ground anyway.

"Hermione," He grabbed her arm in a stern manner, "Hermione, look at me." She slowly lifted her eyes up until they met his.

"What?" She muttered through her teeth.

"I don't care what happened, okay? Whatever it is that is putting this huge gap between us, I don't care, okay? I love you, Hermione, and I want us to be okay." Ron told her.

"Ron—"

"No, I'm done hearing your excuses for why we can't be together, it's not that difficult. If you love me, you love me. If you don't then you don't. Hermione, I love you." Ron got even closer to her.

"W—what?" Hermione paused, he had never said that before, "Ron, I don't think you're thinking this through, do you realize what you just said?"

"I love you!" Ron cried out, "Okay? I have loved you for so long."

"You have?" Hermione questioned.

Ron pulled her closer, and put his arms around her. He kissed her in a passionate way and held her close to him. Hermione pulled away for a slight moment, trying to process what was happening. Though her instincts were telling her otherwise, she let him kiss her once more, before she finally stopped him. She pushed him away and put her hand over her mouth.

"Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." Hermione shook her head. "I don't want to fight anymore, I don't want to think about this, but I can't keep hurting you like this."

"Don't say that," Ron tried to reach out to her.

"You deserve someone better, Ron. You deserve someone so much better than me. I'm sorry," She shook her head and headed back to the tent.

* * *

When morning came, Luna rolled over on the old bed. She took a quick shower (thankfully the water was still running in the house) and then made her way through the rather large house. Every room she came to, she searched for Draco but it wasn't until the very last room she came to that she finally found him. He was lying down, in such a defenseless manner. He didn't seem on edge or as harsh as normal. But he seemed at peace with himself, in a way that made him look so beautiful as a human being. Carefully, she grabbed the door knob and began pulling the door shut. But as she closed it almost all the way, he stirred in his bed.

"Draco?" Luna asked, pushing the door back open just an inch.

He rolled over towards her, with his eyes still closed. His body twisted and turned, becoming entangled in the sheets. With his right hand, he gripped his pillow that was lying just beneath his head. Luna watched as his muscles began tightening up and his body jerked in odd ways. She understood that there was something going on in a dream, and she wasn't too sure how to wake him up.

"Draco," She placed her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't flinch. He was too wrapped up in his dream. So she pushed on his shoulder a bit harder, this time not only waking him, but startling him. He immediately grabbed a hold of her arms so stern that she thought his nails would dig into her skin. When he recognized her and realized what was going on, he quickly let go of her.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" He said in a groggy tone.

"I was just," Luna stopped, watching him carefully. She looked down at her arm to see that he left indents in her pale flesh.

"You scared me half to death," He muttered, ripping off the covers from the bed and stumbling to his feet.

"I'm sorry, you looked like you were having a nightmare," Luna explained, "I was only trying to help."

"I'm sure you were, but it doesn't give you the right to just barge in here and wake me." He growled.

Luna remained silent as he reached the door. After a few seconds he turned around to look at her, mostly just to make sure that she wasn't crying. But he wasn't shocked to find her staring at the ground. Sometimes he got a bit carried away and he didn't realize how harsh he could come off. Draco let out a small breath, understanding that he had hurt her to some extent.

"Don't listen to me when I get like that, okay? I don't mean it, it's just my way."

"Of course, I understand." Luna nodded.

"I don't…" Draco started but he had to admit he didn't know where he was really going with it anyway.

"It's fine," Luna said, readjusting her shirt. "But Draco," She called after him.

"What?"

"You were dreaming about her, weren't you?" Luna asked, with a curious expression on her face. "You were dreaming of Hermione—I mean."

Draco stared at the girl with wide eyes. The two stood in silence for quite some time, and he half hoped that she would apologize for asking such a personal question and back off. But at the same time, he knew that it was Luna Lovegood and to her nothing was really a personal question. She was a very open person, which isn't a bad thing, but he had trouble finding why on earth it would be good to be as open as she was. He looked down at the floor before looking back at Luna.

"Luna, when am I taking you back to Hogwarts?" Draco asked.

"I—I didn't know I was going back," Luna replied quickly, trying not to smile because she knew that she had been right about his dream.

"Well you're certainly not staying here." Draco commented, as he walked into the hallway.

"And why is that?" Luna followed close behind him.

"It's dangerous, Lovegood. You should be somewhere a bit safer."

"Nowhere is safe," Luna cried.

"Hogwarts is safe—to some extent." Draco turned to her.

"And leave you by yourself?" Luna wondered.

"Believe it or not, I'm capable. Now, get your bag and I'll get you back." Draco said sternly.

"Where are you going?" Luna asked.

"It's none of your business." Draco sighed as he entered the living room of the house.

"I'll go," Luna stood tall, "I'll go back to Hogwarts if you tell me what you plan on doing."

Draco stared at her for a minute. She was quick and intelligent, though he had always assumed differently. He sat down on a chair and watched as she sat down on the couch across from him.

"I'm going to find her." Draco finally spoke up.

"Hermione, you mean?"

"Yes," He answered, "And then I'm going to take her somewhere safe, somewhere off the map where she doesn't have to deal with any of this."

"You know she'll never go with you." Luna chipped in. "Hermione won't go with you off the map just like that, she will stay here and she will fight the war, Draco. I told you once and I'll tell you again, she is who she is and you cannot change that. She will fight for her friends, regardless of what you think or how you feel."

Draco thought on this for a while. He knew that she was right in a lot of aspects. Hermione was just as stubborn as he was and if she didn't want to leave, she wouldn't. But he couldn't help but feel like deep inside him, she would do it—for him because after all, she had to feel something for him, right? He bit his tongue as he thought of Hermione and feared that perhaps she had moved on and maybe spending time with Ron would change her feelings. It made him a bit angry to think that he wasn't even sure where she was or if she had even found the boys yet. But he would assume that by now she was with them. He couldn't imagine what he would do if when he got there, she was already gone or she had decided that it was best they stay apart.

"Get your things, you're going back." Draco stood up and left the room.

Luna took a deep breath and followed him.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I hope you liked this chapter, I hope it didn't bore you too badly! Can't wait to upload some more and continue on with the story. There's some exciting things coming up!

Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Author's Pre-Note: This chapter is a bit jumpy, I apologize. But it jumps around to the different characters, so I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much. At this very moment I'm editing the next chapter, which I hope to put up in just a bit! I've had a lot of fun writing this story, which is sadly getting close to the end. But I have a lot of plans and there is still more writing to do! (Huzzah!) I hope you enjoy the chapter and continue to read on! Some song suggestions, "_It's Over_" by Secondhand Serenade, and "_You Fight Me" by _Breaking Bejamin.

Hermione stared at her hands that were now blood stained. She didn't understand how this escalated so quickly. As she stood up from the ground, she turned to see where the boys were. With her hands holding her stomach, she tried not to shriek in pain. To her surprise, both boys were unharmed and looked well. Two men lay on the cold, damp ground dead.

"Hermione, how bad does it hurt?" Ron walked to her, giving her support.

"I—I," Hermione looked at him before everything became pitch black.

* * *

"This is why I didn't want her to come with us in the first place," Harry muttered as he sat up a fire in the new location.

"She's not weak, Harry. That could have just as easily been one of us. Those snatcher's are quick." Ron noted.

"Of course she's not weak, she's just—" He paused, "All I'm saying is I wish it had been one of us rather than her."

Ron sat down and curled up in a sweater. It was becoming alarmingly chilly. Hermione had been asleep for several hours now. They decided it was best that way especially given the current situation. As he stared on into the fire, he thought about Hermione a lot. He couldn't wrap his mind around what she had said a few nights prior. Though he had gave it a lot of thought and questioned it thoroughly, he decided that there really was no one better than her for him.

"I said an awful thing to her," Harry broke the silence.

"Harry—"

"No, I did. I treated her terribly. I feel so guilty." He shook his head replaying that moment over again in his mind.

"She'll forgive you, mate." Ron replied with a reassuring tone.

* * *

"Somewhere safe…" Draco whispered again as he paced the hallways of the abandoned house. He had spent his time much like this for the entire day now. Visions of Hermione continuously clouded up his mind making it impossible for him to think clearly. Finding her would be the hardest part because he knew very well that they would cover their tracks. But Draco knew that if there was a will, there was a way. So he set off with his pockets full of gold.

As he appeared in a back alley, he looked around to make sure that no one had been following. He made his way across the small town and to a dark house on the edge of the corner. Letting himself in, he crept quietly down the hall and to the kitchen where he could make out voices.

"You've lost it," One man laughed in a hearty tone.

"I'm telling you what I saw, take it or leave it!" Someone else cried.

"Enough," A third voice chimed in. "Leave my house,"

The sound of footsteps neared Draco as he hid in the shadows. When he was sure that they were gone, he took a deep breath and moved further into the kitchen.

"Excuse me," Draco said in a somewhat polite manner.

"I said leave my house!" The man screamed as he turned around. "Oh, oh look what we have here. You look familiar, boy."

"I'm not a boy," Draco muttered angrily.

"Oh, well pardon, you think you're a man?" The laughter bounced off the walls rather loudly. "What do you want?" He became serious and stern.

"I heard your one of the best—" Draco started.

"You've heard wrong," The man took a knife from his pocket and pushed Draco up against the wall. Draco tried to keep a straight face and be confident, but he was beginning to get a bit tense. The man stabbed his knife into the wall just an inch from Draco's head. "I am the best." He breathed heavily in Draco's face before pulling the knife from the wall and turning towards the table in the middle of the room. "What did you come here for? Who do you want me to kill?"

"No one," Draco quickly said.

"Are you here for revenge?" The man looked to Draco.

"No, I need you to find someone for me." Draco stated.

"What is the nature of this?"

"I need to find a friend." Draco answered.

"Who?" He asked.

"Her name is Hermione Granger." Draco cleared his throat, "Just to make this clear, I do not want you to touch her or even talk to her for that matter. I just need you to find her for me."

"I have no time for such nonsense." The man rejected, "I'm too busy anyway."

"I have galleons, tons of them." Draco began empting his pockets.

"Still, I don't think I can—"

"My name is Draco Malfoy. In case you haven't heard of me before I'm the son of Lucius Malfoy. Now, if you don't do as I say, which is more of an order than a request at this point, I have a feeling you-know-who will be very upset about it. Oh, and my father will hear about this." Draco crossed his arms like an arrogant little boy. The man quickly nodded and gulped rather loudly.

"Of—of course," The man nervously nodded once more.

* * *

"I don't understand," Neville quietly spoke with Luna in the library one late afternoon. She softly sighed, but not in a rude manner. "Just tell me again."

"He was nice, Neville. He's the only reason that I'm still alive and the only reason I'm back here." Luna tried, "And-and I think he's in love with Hermione."

"That just sounds so absurd." Neville looked at the ground and then back to her. "Luna, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it?" She turned to face him.

"When you were gone…there were a lot of things going through my mind. I was wondering if you were hurt or if I would ever see you again…" Neville stopped in mid-sentence. He could barely breathe after saying that. When she went missing, he felt utterly sick and disoriented all the time. As he heavily breathed, he felt tears coming but he forced them to stop.

Luna's hand landed in Neville's lap. She held onto his leg a bit tighter as if to remind him that she was still there.

"Neville," Luna said softly, "It's okay."

"No, there's something else I need to tell you," Neville said, looking at her carefully. "Luna I—I uh," He stopped. He felt it, but he just had trouble saying the words. "I love you," He finally admitted in a shy voice. His cheeks were becoming a bit flushed and he was getting more nervous the longer Luna stared.

She moved closer to him, making sure she could see all of him. His lips trembled as he noticed how incredibly close she was getting. Giving a small smile to him, she put his hands around his neck and pulled him closer. He towered her now, with unsteady breath and clammy palms. His hands slowly moved to her neck. The two stared at each other for quite some time in a timid manner. Then as he closed his eyes, he leaned in and kissed her softly. Within minutes, the two were becoming closer than they had ever been before.

* * *

"How bad does it feel?" Ron asked as he helped Hermione sit up from her bed.

"Not too bad," Hermione lied as she let out a small breath.

"You know, when this is all over," Ron said, "Hermione,"

"Ron!" Hermione stammered.

"Hermione, just tell me what happened already." He pressured her.

"If I told you, you'd never forgive me." Hermione bit her lip. "I couldn't ask you to forgive me, Ron. Don't you get it?"

"No, I don't. I can't think of anything that I couldn't forgive you for." Ron said.

"Well I can," Hermione got up and left the tent, to see Harry trying to warm up by the fire.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, just tell me," Ron walked after her.

"Ron, please would you two just stop?" Harry stood to his feet.

"I don't think this is the appropriate time to talk about this, okay?" Hermione turned to him.

"Then when? When we all die fighting? Will that be an okay time for us to talk?" Ron questioned, "I am not giving up on us, even if you already have!" Ron cried out.

"Given up?" Hermione cried, "Is that what you think happened?"

"Would both of you shut up!" Harry was becoming furious at the two.

"What is it then?" Ron asked.

"Do you even know how much time I spent thinking about where you two could possibly be? Did you even think to ask how it was just waiting day by day searching through the library that I have practically already memorized? Or how about all the rumors that spread around at school? I had absolutely no one for all this time, Ron! Your own sister turned her back on me! I had no one!" Hermione screamed, "I did everything in my power to help and yet I could do absolutely nothing. I had no clue where you were, if you were safe or even alive for that matter! Ron, I have changed in too many ways that you cannot possibly understand, okay? I'm not the girl that I used to be, regardless of what you want to think." Hermione breathed.

"People change, Hermione, that's just life. I have changed believe it or not, that doesn't mean anything. That doesn't mean that my feelings for you have changed." Ron desperately said.

"I'm done talking about this," Hermione crossed her arms and began walking away from the tent a little ways. But as she turned around, she saw Harry who was falling to the ground in pain. He held his head in his hands as he let out a moan. "Harry? Harry!" Hermione rushed towards the two boys. Ron was now trying to hold Harry up, but was having trouble.

Together, Ron and Hermione had moved him onto a bunk in the tent as he took a few deep breaths.

"Harry, what did you see?" Hermione knelt down beside him, looking up at his scar.

"He knows everything," Harry said, "He knows everything."

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Voldemort," Hermione whispered, "He knows about what we're doing?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "And I think—I think he's going to attack Hogwarts."

"When?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Harry shook his head, "But we have to pack up and leave. We have to be there when it happens, we have to prepare them."

"Agreed," Ron nodded.

Hermione stood, looking between the two boys. It was clear that they had no other option, but she still worried about loads more. In the back of her head she wondered if George would tell his younger brother about what happened. She was also wondering if Draco would be at Hogwarts or if he was still at the Malfoy Manor. Patting her right back pocket, she made sure that the envelope was still there—unopened.

* * *

"I have found her." The man said. "But she's moving—constantly."

"Where to?" Draco questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I can show you where she's at this very moment."

"Go on," Draco nodded.

The man reached into a high cupboard and brought back a glass ball which was completely fogged up. He whispered a few words under his breath as he pointed his wand at it. All of a sudden the fog cleared up and Hermione was visible, along with Ron and Harry. They were traveling through the woods.

"I think I know where there heading," Draco said before standing to his feet. "Thank you, for your work." He then walked out to the hallway.

"You forgot to pay," The man said angrily.

"No, I didn't. Oh, but I did forget this," Draco lifted up his wand to the man, "Obliviate."

He knew it was wrong, but he had to do it. If word got back to his family or Voldemort that he was searching for the trio, they'd surely follow along in his tracks. At this point, he was almost beginning to care about Potter and the Weasel because he knew how much they meant to Hermione. As he stormed off into the night, he made his journey to Hogwarts.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys I hope you liked the chapter! Can't wait to upload the next one. Thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Envelope

Author's Pre-note: So, I would like to take this time to apologize for the recently shorter chapters. This was a fun chapter to write, so I hope you all stay interested. Please know that there is still more to come after this, it is not the end by any means and there are still a lot of changes to be made with the characters after this chapter. I promise, things will get better! As your reading this chapter you might find it nice to listen to a few of my song suggestions which are, "_Hide and Seek_" by Imogen Heap, "_Let Me Go_" by 3 Doors Down, and "_All I Wanted_" by Paramore. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Hermione sat down in the Great Hall and looked at a book. It was their second day back and she really didn't talk to anyone. She kept between the boys and mostly to herself. Since Ron didn't seem angry or upset with her, she figured that George didn't say anything about what had happened between them. As she bit her lip anxiously, she flipped the page to find the Draco's envelope lying there. Taking a deep breath she ran her fingers across it. Her curiosity was getting to the best of her and she felt like this was the right time.

As she looked at it, she took another deep breath, trying to steady her breathing patterns. Opening the envelope, she looked around to make sure no one was behind her to see. Taking a small sheet of paper from it, she turned it over to see Draco's hand writing scribbled over it. Before she read it, she quickly put it away in the envelope again. She couldn't do it, not yet. Plus, she saw George entering the hall anyway. Closing her book and putting it in her bag, she stood up and started to head out. As she passed George, she felt a nudge on her arm. Turning to see him, he stood closely to her.

"I don't know how long I can do this," George whispered.

"I know," Hermione nodded, "I know, just let me be the one to tell him, George. It will be better. I would rather him be angry at me than be mad with you."

"I don't mean that," He said even softer.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione questioned.

"I don't know how long I can keep pretending like I don't feel anything. I can't keep hiding it like this, Hermione. I still think about you, whether you're here or you're gone. I worry about you,"

"Well you didn't seem so worried about me when you were lip-locking with Angelina," Hermione was quick to respond.

"You made it clear that you didn't want this to happen, so what was I supposed to do? I am trying to fall in love Hermione, with someone that's not you." George tried to explain.

"Well try harder," Hermione quickly turned around and left the hall.

As she pushed through the front entrance and made her way to the courtyard, she passed groups of students who were crowding around in groups. She made her way down the steps that led to the boathouse. When she made her way to the water, she turned her head up to find that there was something in the sky. It was someone on a broomstick, flying in closer. To her surprise, it was Draco.

"Granger!" He shouted as he quickly approached her.

Hermione took a step back and shook her head in what looked like almost pain.

"N—no,"

"Granger, I thought I lost you." He put his arms around her, holding her close.

A rush of emotions hit her like a brick wall. She was trying to push him away but was having trouble. Mixed feelings churned in her stomach as she finally managed to pull herself away from him.

"Where have you been?" Hermione cried out.

"At the Manor and then I was searching for you." Draco said.

"You can't do this, Draco! You can't just walk away and then come back like nothing happened. You can't keep switching sides like this." Hermione shook her head. "You don't just get to walk back into my life like this after all this time and pretend like everything is going to be okay."

"I never walked away from you," Draco shook his head in disagreement.

"You left me, Draco!" She shouted.

"It wasn't like that; I was trying to protect you. It wouldn't have been safe, Granger."

"None of this is safe, Draco!" Hermione screamed at him. "No one is safe anymore."

"Please, just listen to me." Draco tried.

"No, I'm done." Hermione gave him a long look before turning away and leaving him at the boathouse alone.

Hermione made her way to her bed in the dormitory when Ginny followed her in.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Ginny walked into the room with her arms crossed. Hermione turned to see her, with a confused look on her face. "Mum wrote me, while you were gone with Ron and Harry. Who did you take to the Borrow?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You bloody hell know what I'm talking about!" Ginny slammed the door shut. "You used polyjuice potion, didn't you? Who did you take with you?"

"Ginny, stop. Don't do this now." Hermione shook her head.

"If you don't explain yourself to me, I will tell the boys what you did because I have a feeling they don't know about this, do they?" Ginny said quickly.

"I can't tell you," Hermione said, "And you can't tell them."

"Watch me," Ginny laughed.

"If you tell them a thing, I swear to God I'll tell Harry about Dean and you." Hermione snapped.

"What about it? Weren't you the one encouraging me to go to the dance with him?" Ginny asked.

"I never encouraged you to snog him in the corner all night!" Hermione cried out.

"I never did that," Ginny shook her head.

"Harry has been my best friend for years—longer than you two have been lovers. Now, who do you think he is going to believe?" Hermione asked.

Ginny fell silent for a few moments.

"What about George? It's not like the rest of the school wouldn't back me up in saying that there was something going on between you two." Ginny said.

"I don't think you want to start this, Ginny." Hermione said in a threatening tone.

Ginny looked at Hermione in the eyes. The truth was she didn't want to start anything with Hermione. She honestly didn't want to be angry at her or cause any trouble. But she knew just as well as the rest of them did that war was coming and Ginny was having second thoughts about whether to trust her or not. Looking down at the ground and then back up to Hermione, she took a deep breath.

"You are not who you used to be," Ginny said.

"No, I'm not. But you know what, war does that to people." Hermione took off from there and went to the common room where she found the boys talking in front of the fire.

* * *

A week later, Hermione found herself in front of the fire again, in between Harry and Ron.

"What do you think he's waiting for?" Ron asked, "He knows where we are, he could come any minute."

"Probably building his army up," Harry said, "I wouldn't be surprised."

Hermione stood up and quickly left. She walked through the hallways aimlessly like she used to when the boys weren't here. As she bit her lip she thought about how different she was really becoming. Ginny was right when she said she wasn't who she used to be. But even with everything that had happened, she was changing in a lot more ways than that. She had done terrible things that she wasn't proud of. But she was doing them for the right reasons, wasn't she?

Sitting down at a table in the library, Hermione opened up her book. She began reading once more, until finally she stopped. Pulling out the envelope again, she took a deep breath and decided to open it and actually read it this time. In all honesty, she really had nothing left to lose. She had already lost her family, and George and Ginny, she felt like she was about to lose both Ron and Harry, she figured what was one more person at this point. Pulling out the paper, she unfolded it and her eyes began scanning it.

"_Granger,_

_Wait for me, just give me time. I'm not giving up just yet. Don't think that it's over, because it's far from over. I don't know what I feel for you…but whatever I feel for you, it's strong enough to keep me fighting for you. There are a lot of things I'm not too sure about, and I'm sorry for that. But I'm sure that for us, this isn't the end. So please, wait for me._

_-D.M._"

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand, shocked at what she just read. Her eyes scanned over it a few more times to make sure that she was actually reading the actual letter and not just imagining what she wished it said. A tear fell down her face as she let out a long breath. Regretting that she didn't read it sooner, she stood up from the chair and looked to the door, where she found Draco standing. He watched her cautiously, trying to decide what to do. Taking a few steps forward, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but then stopped. He couldn't bring himself to say anything more than what he had already told her. Looking at her hand, he noted that she had been holding the letter he left and judging by the expression on her face he figured it was her first time reading it.

"Draco," Hermione exclaimed as she rushed to him, throwing her arms around him tightly. With his arms around her waist, he could feel her sobbing into his chest. Still holding her tightly, he bent down just a tad to kiss her forehead gently. As he closed his eyes, he thought to himself about how long he had waited for this moment.

"I was beginning to think you would never talk to me again," Draco thought about how she had avoided him for just less than two weeks.

"I'm sorry," Hermione cried, "I am so sorry,"

"No, I am." Draco pulled away to get a good look at her. "I left you, because I needed time to figure out some things. I was confused because what I wanted and what I deserved were two very different things. But after spending time at the Manor, I realized that I couldn't do it. You were right; I'm not one of them. I'm far from one of them. I've spent a lot of time thinking about you,"

"I've spent a lot of time thinking about you too," Hermione nodded with a smile on her face.

"Granger," He wiped away a tear that was falling down her cheek. "I don't deserve you. But I want to be the kind of person who deserves you."

"That's not true, Draco," Hermione disagreed.

"No, it is. But I'm going to become that person, okay? I'll be the person who deserves you. And I hope that when I become that person, you'll find it somewhere in your heart to give this—to give me another shot."

"Draco," Hermione's mouth opened a bit.

"I may have screwed up once, because I didn't realize what exactly it was that I had, but I swear I will not screw this up again." Draco told her.

Hermione smiled at him and nodded. Standing on her tip toes, she kissed him softly. It was evident now that everyone was changing, or more appropriately, everyone had changed. Some maybe for the better; some maybe for the worse. But Draco had most certainly grown up over the last time she had been with him, and it made her in a sense both proud and happy. Placing her arms around his neck, she placed her forehead against his and held him close. To her, this felt right, which was refreshing because she hadn't felt right in a very long time.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and continue to keep reading! Thank you all so incredibly much!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The Truth

Author's Pre-note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! Some song suggestions are, "_Dance with the Devil_" by Breaking Benjamin, "_Arms_" by Christina Perri, and "_Heavy In Your Arms_" by Florence + The Machine.

* * *

Hermione looked in the mirror at herself, studying the image rather carefully. She was alone on that particular Saturday morning, which made her feel a bit more relaxed. Ginny still continued to ignore her and Hermione continuously avoided George. Whenever she could, she would seek out Draco just to be with him, but in a hidden place. Draco tried to keep a low key, especially since he figured that his father was still looking for him (or at least almost half hoped). As Hermione walked down to the common room, she saw Ron standing there with George next to him. The rest of the room was cleared out. Taking a deep breath, Hermione walked to them, examining both of their faces.

"Hermione, we need to talk." George spoke up, "There's something that we need to tell Ron."

"Yeah, yeah there is." Hermione nodded. "Ron, can we talk alone for a minute?"

"No, I want to be here, I need to be here," George said.

"You two are really starting to scare me." Ron nervously looked from his brother to Hermione.

"George," Hermione gave him a look.

"Okay," He left the room.

"What is this about?" Ron asked when George was gone.

"Remember how I told you I did something? Something that—that you won't ever forgive me for?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but I told you I would—"

"Ron," Hermione stopped him mid-sentence. "I kissed George a lot while you were gone. We got close and—"

"You did what?" Ron cried.

"Like I told you before everyone turned their backs on me and he was the only one willing to talk to me. Things got out of control, okay? We definitely crossed the line and I ended it quickly. George still has feelings for me but I don't look at him like that." Hermione explained.

"I—I," Ron tried, but then stopped. "I can't talk to you right now," He stormed out of the room.

* * *

Hermione made her way to the Great Hall where she found Ginny and Harry talking in hushed tones to one another. She walked up behind them, so that they didn't know she was there. She then proceeded to listen to what the two had to say.

"I don't think that we can trust her," Ginny whispered.

"Ginny, you're just paranoid, of course we can trust her." Harry said.

"Trust who?" Hermione asked, making both of them turn around.

"Hey," Harry smiled at her. But Ginny just stared.

Hermione just shook her head and left the two alone. Harry tried calling after her, but Hermione didn't turn back around. Ginny put her hand on Harry's arm, telling him to let her go. Harry did as she wanted, but he continued to watch Hermione leave. It bothered him knowing that she was hurt, but he knew it wasn't the time to get into it.

"There you are," Draco smiled as he took her in his arms, pulling her away from the hallway and into another hallway, which was much less crowded.

"Draco," Hermione was surprised.

"I want to show you something," He took her across the castle and to his dorm room.

"Draco, where are we going?" Hermione said in a teasing manner.

"This is my room," He locked the door and then placed a charm on it.

Draco kissed her softly as his hands searched her. She giggled as she held onto him. Their breathing became heavy and the two began melting into one another. Hermione's heart raced as they became intertwined with each other. As Draco pushed her against the cold wall, Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. She had lived this before—in a dream. Suffocating underneath his stern grip, she couldn't help but to feel safe. His hands slid to down to her back and pulled her closer. She pushed him away a little bit and looked at him.

"Draco," She shook her head with a smile, "We can't, we can't do that."

"Why not?" He asked.

Hermione looked up at him, and then realized what he was getting at. They weren't tied down, they weren't in front of anyone; they were alone. She also understood that he was in such a rush because he was scared about the war that was approaching. They were all wondering if they would make it out alive. Hermione looked at him with sincerity and then nodded.

"Draco," Hermione said. "If we do this, you have to promise me that you're going to stay with me. I need you to mean it, Draco."

"I will never leave you again," Draco took her hand in his. "Don't you understand that?"

Hermione nodded at him again and kissed him. Hermione slid down to the floor, and Draco went down with her. She couldn't breathe, as her mind raced. As he towered over her, she felt weak and almost powerless. His fingers tangled in her hair as he crawled atop of her. Closing her eyes, Hermione thought to herself of all the dreams she had had. Now, here they were. It wasn't a dream and she wasn't going to wake up from this. This was real and it was happening right now. He moved even closer to her and began whispering to her.

"Hermione," He softly said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Hermione agreed.

Draco pulled himself up from the floor, and picked her up as well. Setting her down on his bed, he stood next to her. As he kissed her passionately, the two got even closer. Hermione's head was racing because she knew that she was giving away a part of herself that she would never get back. She always thought that she would do this sort of thing with Ron. But everything changed, and now here they were. Draco held her close, to make sure that she was okay. That night, Hermione gave him everything she had.

* * *

"She did what?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "She admitted it!"

"I can't believe that," Harry shook his head.

"That's why I told you that you can't trust her!" Ginny cried.

"Did you talk to George?" Harry ignored Ginny.

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "Get this, he still has feelings for her. But she swears to me that she doesn't feel like that for him. I just can't believe it."

"Well, we knew that it was something bad," Harry said.

"Yeah, but I didn't think it'd be that bad!" Ron cried.

"It could have been worse," Harry mentioned, as he smiled to Luna and Neville who were now approaching. "She could have been with someone worse—someone like…Draco."

"You know about Draco and Hermione?" Luna questioned.

"What?" Harry, Ron and Ginny said in unison.

"Oh, you don't know about that?" Luna took a step back, "I'm sorry, I just—I thought that's what you were talking about."

"What happened between Draco and Hermione?" Ron became furious.

"They—they're in love." Luna said, "I thought you knew,"

"In love?" Harry asked.

"Well I know Draco is in love with her at least," Luna corrected herself. "I don't think Hermione knows about the time Draco and I spent together while you were gone. He was very worried about her."

"Worried about Hermione? You must have heard him wrong!" Ginny crossed her arms. "I mean, it's Draco, he doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"No, actually, he cares about a lot of people." Luna chimed in, "Including me," She gave a soft smile, thinking back.

"What are you talking about?" Harry looked around to make sure that they weren't drawing any attention.

"While you guys were gone, I was captured by Lucius Malfoy. He took me to the Malfoy Manor, where I obviously ran into Draco. He saved me and brought me back to Hogwarts. But while we were on our way back, he told me about a lot of things. Apparently, they captured Hermione a while before me. She went through a lot, she was tortured endlessly. But eventually, Draco and Hermione escaped. Seems like Hermione changed his view on a lot of things. I don't know where they went, but he said that they had to be secretive about it. Draco isn't who he used to be, I know that for a fact. He treated me nicely—too nicely. I don't mean any harm, I really thought that she would have told you about it." Luna said.

"Oh my God," Ginny whispered, "That's who she took to the Burrow."

"What are you talking about?" Ron turned to his sister.

"Mum wrote me, told me that Hermione showed up at the Burrow with someone who was pretending to be me. Hermione must have given him polyjuice potion. I gave her hell over it, told her I would tell you guys if she didn't tell you soon. It's all starting to make sense now." Ginny said.

"I need to talk to her," Ron said, "I need her to tell me the truth,"

"Ron, I think you should just call it a night. It's late and I doubt she'll be pleasant with you at the moment." Harry called after him.

"Harry, I have only asked her to be honest with me, and she couldn't even tell me the truth." Ron said, "There might be a chance to still save what we had. Draco might be in love with her, but she might not love him back."

"Ron," Ginny said.

"No—Ginny, this is _my_ choice," Ron barked.

"No, Ron!" She cried out in fear, looking at the sky that was now blackening up.

"It's here, he's coming." Harry cried out.

* * *

Draco turned and looked over at Hermione, who was nestled in the covers tight. He could tell that she was sleeping soundly. Putting his hand on her face, he slowly followed her jawline down. A sudden loud knock on the door made Draco jump out of bed. He opened the door just slightly; to make sure that no one could see into the dormitory. To his surprise, it was Pansy.

"Draco, it's happening." She said.

"What?" Draco asked in a confused manner.

"The war, it's here." Pansy smiled. "Come on, let's go,"

"I'll be down in a minute," He shut the door and looked over to see Hermione still sleeping peacefully. He took a deep breath and held his head in his hands. His mind traveled to the unbreakable vow that he had with his father. "Hermione," He nudged her awake.

"Draco? What is it?" Hermione rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"The war is here," Draco said.

Hermione hurriedly got dressed and the two made their way to the door.

"You can't go out there," Draco shook his head.

"Why not?" Hermione turned to see him.

"Because there are a lot of Slytherin's out there." Draco said. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't care if they know about us, but I'm afraid they'll try to hurt you. Just, just stay in here for a bit longer okay?"

"Are you joking?" She cried, "That's psychotic,"

"Granger," He said, "Please do it, for me?"

"You can't play that card," Hermione sat down on his bed.

In that moment, Draco stared at her. There she was, sitting on his bed. He just wanted to hold her again, he wanted to lay down with her again even if the war raged on. He didn't want to leave the room, he only wanted to be with her. But he knew that he had to leave, and he knew just as well that she wouldn't stay very much longer either. There was absolutely no way to keep her locked away, though he wanted to so desperately. He knew that she wouldn't just stay hidden and not help her friends. He took everything in during these last few seconds, because if something did happen, this was the way he wanted to remember it. Draco wanted to remember her smiling, her being happy, her being…herself. After walking over to her, he kissed her softly.

"D-don't," Hermione shook her head, pushing him away. "Don't say goodbye, or do any of that stuff. We are going to be fine, Draco. We are going to make it out of this alive, I know we will."

"You're right," He nodded, though he was scared that she might be wrong. But he wanted to believe it more than anything else in the world.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed the new chapter and I hope you'll continue to read more! I'm not too sure when the next chapter will be uploaded but it will be soon, I assure you. Thank you so much for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Forgotten

Author's Pre-note: I am so sorry for the long wait! I've been super busy with college classes and have had no time to update! But I'm pretty sure I will be ending the story this weekend. So yes, sadly this story is coming to an end. It honestly makes me want to cry because I have been having so much fun writing it. However, I am also considering making a sequel to the story. If you could message me/leave a review and tell me if you would be interested in reading a sequel, please let me know. I want to know that a sequel would be wanted! This is not the final chapter, but the next chapter very well may be.

* * *

Hermione didn't wait long before barging out of the dormitory and to the common room. It was still crowded and loud, but it wasn't going to stop her. She wasn't afraid, like she thought she would be. Given all this time, she knew something would happen sooner or later and she had time to prepare. This was what she had to do. Carefully, she pulled out the wand and began searching through the halls for Harry and Ron. As she stepped out into the hallways which were full of screaming people, her eyes scanned the castle. They had to be somewhere.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed, pulling him away from a battle.

"Ginny—what are you doing? I have to help them," Harry gave her a stern look.

"I know," She nodded, "I just, I just need to tell you something."

"What is it?" He asked, still very sidetracked by a group of kids trying to defeat a large beast.

"Harry—I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything." She shook her head.

"Ginny, we can't do this now. We'll talk later."

"No! We will talk now! There might not be a later, Harry." Ginny cried out.

"Now you're talking just like your brother." Harry noted.

"Yes, but he is right. Harry, I love you. I love you and I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. I didn't mean to come in between you and Hermione. It wasn't my intention—I honestly thought that there was something…"

"Stop." Harry cut her off. "Everything is going to be alright. I love you too," He told her, before kissing her softly. "But I have to go,"

Luna casted a spell at a troll which was quick to wail. She fought with it for fifteen minutes until it finally laid on the cold ground, dead. Holding her head which was now bleeding, a dark wizard approached her. The boy wasted no time throwing a few quick strikes at her. She fell to the ground, hitting her head once more. As she breathed deeply all she could hear was an evil laugh which made her body cringe. Trying to pull herself up from the ground, she became feeble. Reaching for her wand, her eyes gazed over to the wizard who was standing above her. He stomped down on her wrist, leaving her screaming in pain and unable to defend herself.

"Stupefy!" Ron approached.

The boy was pushed backwards. Ron got closer, continuously casting spells until he finished him off. Then he quickly turned to see Luna. As he knelt down next to her, he looked at her wrist which was most certainly broken. Using all of her strength, she tilted her head to face him, with tears in her half closed eyes. He lightly touched her skin and whispered a spell which made her bone fix itself. Quickly, he pulled her up off of the ground and helped her back into the interior of Hogwarts. She stumbled as she entered the Great Hall. A nurse came to her and readily fixed her wounds. After making sure she would be alright, Ron headed back towards the entrance and got ready to reenter the battle.

Neville went down the stairs quickly as he searched around the room for Luna. But when he could not find her, he spotted Hermione who was mixed in with the crowd. He went for her quickly and grabbed a hold of her by the arm.

"Neville," She was shocked by the sudden movement.

"Hermione, you need to help us. It's here—the war is here." Neville said hurriedly.

"I know, but where is everyone?" Hermione questioned.

Neville took a hold of her hand and pulled her along through the hallway. Together they opened the doors to the entrance and entered the scene.

Screams pierced their ears and people cried out everywhere. It was all too much to take in, and so for a moment she stood there, watching it all. Neville had been out already, so he wasn't surprised, but he stayed behind with Hermione so she could catch her breath that she had just lost. Looking at her carefully, he examined her. Something seemed different—something so out of place, something he hadn't noticed before. But he said nothing as the girl pulled out her wand and readied herself.

"Okay," Hermione breathed, "Let's look for them."

* * *

Draco was pulled backwards and then pushed against a wall.

"Where exactly have you been all this time, Draco?" Pansy stood mere inches from him.

"What the Hell—"

"Draco, I mean it. Your parents thought you were killed—that you went missing. You worried them sick." Pansy said.

"They were—they were worried?" Draco asked, taken aback by her statement.

"Who else was going to end this all?" Pansy put an end to his concern.

"That's what I thought," Draco shoved her aside and began his walk once more.

"Draco, what has gotten into you lately? I heard about the mishaps you've been having. You left with that mudblood and then that blonde headed lunatic. Do you have any idea what you've been doing? You've been slowing down the progress." Pansy told him.

"Sorry—was there a purpose for this conversation?" Draco towered over her.

"I don't know what's been going on with you lately. But you aren't acting yourself."

"You're right." Draco nodded.

"But it's okay," Pansy reached out her hand and touched his. "I know how you feel. You haven't felt right ever since we broke up."

"Pansy—"

"It's okay, Draco. I haven't been feeling too right myself. But it's okay, because we see that now. And this can work now. In fact, we should start where we left off." Pansy leaned in closer to him.

"I don't think that this is such a good…"

"I love you, Draco." Pansy smiled. "And I always have."

"Pansy, I don't love you." Draco quickly responded.

"You—you what?" She questioned, taking a step back.

"I've never loved you." Draco said.

"Draco, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Pansy's voice changed so suddenly, it almost confused Draco. "We can walk out there into the battle, holding hands. You can fight on our side, Draco. We will win this war, I assure you. And when it's all over, everything will be forgiven. I will fight for you, Draco. I can guarantee that Voldemort will have mercy on your soul as well as the others. I can still save your ass, Draco."

"Or?" Draco asked.

"Or you can die," Pansy pointed her wand at him. "Sooner or later,"

Draco ducked and saved himself from being hit too harshly. Pansy laughed as she casted another spell which all seemed rather deadly and dark. He grabbed for his wand in his pocket, but didn't have enough time to cast a spell. As she struck out again, he was hit and thrown against the wall roughly. She caused him pain that he couldn't bare—the same pain Hermione was cursed with so many times before. His mind thought to her, of where she was or who she was with, if she was safe and how he could somehow get to her again. He should have stayed with her, he should have protected her. But he left her there, all alone. Grunting loudly, Draco fell to his knees. He heard a high pitched scream and a loud bang which resulted in Pansy lying on the floor. Turning over to see who had saved him, he saw the blonde haired girl he had once saved.

"Luna…" Draco got to his feet rather quickly. She was still a bit weak from her previous wounds, but she had improved within a very short amount of time. "Why did you do that?"

"We're friends, Draco. Remember?" She smiled at him.

* * *

Then the two set off to enter the battle once more.

"Let go!" Ron shouted to a small troll which had a hold of one end of his wand. He couldn't get over the ridiculousness of the situation. For all the torment going on around them and all the pain people were undergoing, he was there, in a petty fight with a troll.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted as the troll fell backward.

"Thanks, mate." Ron gripped his wand tighter.

"Any sign of Hermione yet?"

"No," Ron shook his head. "Harry, what if she…what if she's—"

"Don't say that!" Harry cried out. "It's not true!"

"But it could be," Ron tried.

"No!" Harry pointed his wand at Ron, but then carefully took it down. "I have to go,"

"Where are you—what are you doing?"

But Harry didn't answer him, he just continued on down a small path.

* * *

Hermione held onto her wand tightly as she casted a spell at a death eater. She fought her way through many evils, with Neville alongside her. As they hurried through, they both looked around for their friends which seemed to be nowhere in sight. But after a few moments, Hermione found a red headed boy who was very much familiar.

"There!" Hermione cried out.

"Where?" Neville followed closely behind her.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered as she got closer to the figure. But as he turned, she noticed it was Fred. "Oh, Fred," She smiled, "Where are the others?"

"I haven't seen them." Fred shook his head. "Well, I did see Harry, but he went off quite a ways in that direction." Fred pointed.

"Right," Hermione started off.

"Hermione wait, where are you going?" Neville reached out after her.

"I have to help him," Hermione said. "I haven't done much to help him, Neville. I have to go. But you stay here. Find Luna and the rest of them."

"Okay, just—be careful, Hermione." Neville looked at her in a very sincere way.

"You too," Hermione smiled before quickly running off.

As she went down the pathway, she quickly recognized it. She realized that it led to the boathouse. But as she approached, she could hear voices crowding around within it. Though she couldn't make out what they were saying, she knew it was something important. She knelt down behind the boathouse, still listening closely. She could make out a figure hiding close by. As she drew closer, she put her arm out as if to warn him of her presence. When he acknowledged her, he gave her a relieved smile and motioned her closer to him. The two stood in silence, as the dark fell among them all.

Voices calmed down and a loud noise alarmed both of them. There was a gasping sound—as though someone couldn't breathe. Then there were footsteps walking past them. Carefully, the two hid a bit further in the shadows. Hermione could make out a figure that she could only predict was the "Dark Lord's". She became impulsive—she had to stop herself from getting up and trying to kill him on the spot. But she knew better, she knew she couldn't be so rash, so quick to think. She knew that this was something Harry had to do when the time was right.

Harry pulled her up and the two made their way into the boathouse to find Professor Snape dying on the floor. There was nothing left that they could do to save him, and they both understood this quite clearly. He tried to speak to Harry who was trying to comprehend what he was saying. Hermione stayed by the entrance, looking around as if to protect these last few moments that the two had. She wanted to guard the door to make sure there was no trickery going on. She wanted to trust Snape, but she still couldn't find it in her to do so. Still, she felt guilty being that the man was now living his last few moments.

"Harry," Hermione whispered.

"I know," Harry held something in his hand and put it in his pocket, though she couldn't quite make out what it was. When she looked over at Snape, she found him dead. Harry walked towards her rather quickly.

"Harry, did you find the other horcruxes?" Hermione questioned.

"I've found one of them. There's still another one out there." Harry said.

"We don't have much time," Hermione said in a bold manner.

"I know, I know." Harry nodded.

"Harry," Hermione said.

"What?"

"Do you think…do you think that it's possible that you…" She stopped and shook her head. "That's absurd, never—never mind."

"Come on," Harry started up the stairs and Hermione followed closely behind.

The two stopped when they reached the battle again. They had to fight their ways through, just like before. This time Hermione got quite a few scratches and Harry got a bloody nose at one point. But as soon as they made it to the door, they rushed in to search for their friends.

"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"To Dumbledore's office, I'll explain later."

"Should I come?"

"No," He shook his head. "No, I have to do this alone."

"Um," Hermione said, "Okay,"

As she turned around, she found Ron standing there, trying to catch his breath.

"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione—" He looked at her and then stopped.

"What is it?" She wondered.

"I—I," He wanted to be mad. He wanted to go off on her. All his built up anger and rage at her. He wanted to let it all out right now, but he didn't. He wanted to scream and tell her that she was wrong. He wanted her to feel guilty, to feel stupid, to feel terrible. He was so mad that he even wanted to see her cry, but he couldn't. He couldn't do that to her.

"Ron," Hermione moved a bit closer to him.

"Don't," He backed up. "Don't act all nice, don't do that,"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione shook her head.

"Don't do this," Ron took another step backwards. "I'm mad at you."

"I know," Hermione nodded, "And I'm sorry that you're upset, but I won't take it back. I can't take it back, Ron…and honestly, I don't want to. I love you, and I swear to you I always will, but not like that. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want you to cry or be upset, I want you to be happy. But you deserve someone who's not me. I care so much about you, Ron. But just not in that way."

"I know," He said looking down at the floor and then back up to her, "But I wish you were in love with me, still."

"It would make things a lot easier, wouldn't it?" Hermione asked and gave a small laugh. "But none of this is easy, none of it was supposed to be easy."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry too. You never told us about what happened to you—what _really_ happened to you." Ron said, "You should have though,"

"There was no right place or time." Hermione shrugged.

"I didn't make this easy for you, Hermione. I'm sorry,"

"Don't apologize. It's over; forgotten." Hermione gave him a smile to assure him that everything was alright.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and continue to read/review! Please don't forget if you want a sequel, please let me know because I would absolutely love to write one!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Always on Your Side

Pre-Author's Note: So I might have made a teeney-itty bitty lie on my last chapter. This is not the last chapter of the story. Please don't be mad, but there is one final one to come. This chapter just deals with a lot of things—more than I realized. I hope you enjoy the chapter and continue to read onto the next chapter which will be the last chapter. (I'm 99.99% sure!)

* * *

Hermione watched as Ron left. She headed back out to the battle, where her eyes finally met with someone else's. Her heart pounded, and she got an instinct that struck her hard. Carefully, she moved towards him, she could sense something wasn't right, making her feel uneasy. As she stood in front of him, everything else seemed to melt away, and they were alone. Biting her lip anxiously, she tried to steady her breathing patterns.

"Thank you..." He softly said to her in the middle of all this destruction.

Death filled the air with its vile scent. Screams were heard through what was left of the hallways and filled the night sky. Cries could be heard from all around, and yet there they stood alone talking in hushed tones as if nothing was happening. It was as if reality was surrounding them, yet couldn't touch them in these few moments.

"For-for what?" Hermione asked in a confused manner, with a pounding heart.

"For loving me...when no one else would." Draco said, with a pained look on his face. He tightened his grip on his wand and steadily raised it. Hermione stood at the other end of the wand with her lips parted. She trembled over words, but couldn't find any. Finally, she spoke.

"So this is it? You're just going to kill me?" She asked in disbelief, "Was this your plan all along? Did you make me fall in love with you just for shits and giggles?"

"It's not like that, Hermione." Draco shook his head, "You don't understand."

"Your right, I don't!" Hermione cried. "How can you do this Draco?" He watched her, still holding his wand tightly.

"Wait, don't answer that, I already know." She paused, looking at him dead in the eye.

"Don't make this any harder than it already is, Granger." Draco muttered under his breath.

"You are just like your father!" Hermione yelled, "Don't you get that?"

"I am nothing like him!" Draco barked in a way which made Hermione shutter.

"The worst part is...I really love you, you idiot!" Hermione broke down into tears.

She considered pulling her wand out, but she didn't. She wasn't going to fight him. Hermione was in love with Draco, not matter what he did. He had hurt her, he had abandoned her, he said terrible things that he can never take back, he betrayed her, but she was still in love with him. Every piece of her wanted to believe that at any second he would just sweep her away. She knew there was a hero in him somewhere in there just waiting to shine. But her hopes seemed pointless and impossible now that she was standing before him.

"You bastard!" Ron interfered, with his wand raised towards Draco.

"Ron, don't!" Hermione cried out, whipping her wand out as well but directing it towards Ron.

"Bloody Hell, Hermione!" Rom cried out, "You've really lost it, haven't you?"

"Ron. Please don't," Hermione shook her head in protest to his actions.

"Fred!" Ginny's voice filled all three of their ears.

Hermione turned around to look at the scene. A wall of Hogwarts was crumbling down and Hermione couldn't quite make out the rest of the details. But there were screams that she had never heard of before. Quickly rushing towards the destroyed layers, she put her hands to her mouth. Ron followed quickly behind her. It had all happened so fast, she wasn't sure how to react, so instead she stood there, dumbfounded.

As she got closer, she noted a few large stones lying on a figure, mounting it straight to the ground. She pushed them away, using all of her force. Ron knelt next to her and did the same. Hermione felt her bones become weak and her breath became unsteady. This couldn't be happening, could it? Moving a stone which was bloodied, Hermione saw the face of someone she had once knew so well—too well. With reared filled eyes, she looked up to find Fred standing across from her, quite a ways away, with tears coming down his face. He then looked to his dead brother on the ground who had just saved his life but in doing so, took his away.

"No," Ron said in a soft manner, reaching out to his brother. "George, George please—" Ron shook his brother a bit roughly, trying to get a reaction out of him. But George still lay there, motionless on the ground.  
Hermione stood up, and backed away. It all just hit her so incredibly hard. George had loved her from the beginning of this mess. And she denied him in such an awful way. She was too harsh with him and she regretted it more than anything. As a piece of her heart broke, she couldn't handle it anymore. She fell to the ground, and weeped in her hands. Still the war raged on and Harry was nowhere to be found.  
Draco watched her heaving so rapidly on the ground. His wand was now by his side. He wanted more than anything to be with her, but he couldn't. He was only making this worse for both him and her. He had to put an end to this, while he still had it in him. So he approached her from behind.

But once again, Ron interfered. Standing to his feet, he pointed his wand at Draco.

"Lower that wand!" Ron cried out in a reckless manner.

"Obl-" Draco spoke.

"Stupefy!" Ron screamed.

Hermione turned around to see Draco on the ground, knocked out. She gave him a good long look, before turning to see Ron standing next to her. With wide eyes and a parted mouth, Hermione trembled. It took her until now to understand what he has been trying to do.

"He was going to obliviate me." Hermione said.

"I tried to tell you," Ron said, "He doesn't love you."

"But I still love him, more than anything." Hermione admitted.

"Hermione, there is a difference between what you want and what you deserve." Ron told her, turning away and walking to his grieving sister.

Hermione left the area and started to head out to where the action was happening. She flung spells around, killing and wounding all sorts of creatures and wizards. She continued on, with admirable fierce.

Gripping her wand tightly, get eyes narrowed in on a certain wizard in particular.

"You low, self-centered, back boneless, dishonest, cowardly—"

"Watch your tongue, mudblood," Lucius said in a half laughing manner.

"No," Hermione shook her head, casting a spell, but Lucius blocked it.

"You might have gotten away before, but I promise you we are ending this tonight." Lucius casted a spell at her, but she blocked it as well.

The two went on for quite some time and surprisingly. Hermione only had a few marks along her skin. Still, she pressed on, knowing that she wasn't going to run away this time like she did before. She could honestly say that she hated the man. Everything about him made her cringe, and it was tearing everything apart. Hermione bit her tongue as she casted another spell on him which he couldn't block given the timing. She struck again and again. Her mind went straight to Draco. None of this would be happening if Lucius were gone away. She thought to herself that if he was dead, Draco would still love her. He was the only reason that Draco had been so screwed up all of these years. Hermione held back tears as she hit him again and once more. Lucius lay on the ground, reaching for his wand.

"Expelliamus!" Hermione cried out, watching the man who was fearful. "I loathe you," Hermione said to him.

"The feeling is mutual." Lucius snickered.

"No it's not. You hate me because of the blood that runs through my veins. I hate you for everything you are." Hermione towered over him, with her wand pointing to him. "Avadra Kadavera!"

And with that, he was dead.

Luna approached Ginny who was still trembling alongside her brother. The two had yet to stop crying. Fred still stayed a long distance away. Neville watched as Luna tried to comfort them. He had several wounds on his body which made him feel weak and almost faint. But he wasn't going to give up so easily. This war was still far from over.

"It's going to be okay, Ginny." Luna put her arms around the girl. "Everything is going to be okay."

"How is this okay? What makes this right?" Ginny cried.

"It's not, but nothing is right about war, or killing or fighting in such a way. All of this is wrong yet we make an exception. We say it's for revenge, we say it's us standing up for what we believe in, that we're taking our power back...but it's not okay." Luna spoke. "None of this is okay,"

Hermione stood in the astronomy tower, which shockingly was still standing, quite untouched. She looked out to see all the fire that was rising and all the souls being tortured. Hermione pulled herself up on the ledge, taking her time. As she looked down she thought to herself that it really wasn't that far down...

"Granger," Draco's voice entered her head.

"Draco?" Hermione turned.

"Get down," He ordered.

"No," She shook her head.

"If you don't-"

"Draco, I am one of them!" Hermione cried out.

"What?" He stopped.

"I am a monster. I am a killer. I am the villain."

"That's absurd,"

"It's the truth!" Hermione interrupted him. "I'm a liar and I am a coward. I am a terrible person. The war has changed all of us. It's brought out the worst and the best in people. But for me, it's turned me into a beast." Hermione spoke.

"Granger-"

"I killed your aunt Bellatrix." Hermione pulled out the wand she had been using. "I've been using her wand ever since." She pulled up her sleeve, revealing an ugly scar stretched across her arm. "She gave this to me, after you left me, she found me. I killed her the second I had the chance."

Draco glared at the mark on her arm that read mudblood.

"That's different," Draco shook his head. "It was out of self-defense."

"I killed your father." Hermione said in a dark tone. "I killed him and I have no regrets. I don't pity him. I don't feel bad for him at all. Because he was the son of a bitch that did this to us! He was the reason you were so hurt all those years. It was be because of him! And I wanted him dead so badly, that I would have done it with my bare hands given the chance. But I killed him Draco. And I have no sympathy. I am a monster. I lied to everyone I cared about to protect myself and you. I kept secrets and denied people who actually cared about me."

"You—you killed my father?" Draco asked, with wide eyes.

Hermione watched him for a moment before boiling over in tears. She was just now beginning to understand the extent of what she had done.

"Draco..."

"You actually killed him?" He questioned.

Hermione nodded her head, too scared to speak.

"I know I won't remember you," Hermione stepped off of the ledge, "After you obliviate me. But before you do, please forgive me."

Hermione still had tears in her eyes. She had her guard down and had no other way to handle it.

"Draco, I love you. I'm sorry that I have screwed everything up." Hermione softly added.

Draco got closer to her, putting his wand into his pocket. Hermione watched him closely as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Please don't—don't erase everything. If you don't want to be with me then just leave. But don't take the only memories that I have left that make me feel safe. Don't take what I love the most away from me," She cried.

"I was under an unbreakable vow," Draco stated, "But you killed my father, so it no longer exists."

"What?" Hermione had trouble piecing it all together.

"It's a long story, but...I'll can explain more of it later." Draco said. "But as of now, we need to fight."

"You're—you're going to fight?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," He nodded. "On your side,"

"But I thought—"

"I am always on your side." Draco cut her off, ending the conversation.

* * *

Author's Note:

As I said in the pre-note, this is not the final chapter, there is one more to come! I hope you enjoyed it and continue to read on! Please, leave me reviews to let me know if you want a sequel, because I would be delighted to write more!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

How the Beauty Fell In Love with the Beast

Author's Pre-note: Well here you go! The final chapter of Dreams. I believe that I will be making a sequel as well. I hope you have all enjoyed this story and find it satisfying. Thank you all for the reviews and for following/reading my story! It means so much to me.

* * *

Draco held onto Hermione's hand tightly as he guided them towards the battle. The sky was so much darker than it was before and the ground was covered with dead people. As Hermione looked around, she realized that most of them were her old friends and classmates. Looking around for Harry, she finally saw him. Ginny was talking to him so anxiously. Hermione rushed to him, dragging Draco along with her.

"Harry!" Hermione approached the two.

"Hermione," Harry looked over at her. "I really don't have time to explain, but you need to trust me on this, okay?"

"Of course," She nodded in such a loyal way. Ginny stood beside her, unable to take her eyes off of Draco's and Hermione's hands. Draco took note of this and tried not to look too uncomfortable.

"Hermione, I'm the last horcrux."

"I knew it," Hermione said under her breath, as her face became saddened. Tears came to her eyes as she bit her lip harshly. Releasing Draco's hand, she rushed towards her best friend and threw her arms around him. She held onto him tighter than she ever had before and cried onto his shoulder for a few moments. This was what she had been afraid of, in fact this was exactly what she was going to say earlier to him when they were at the boathouse. But she didn't want it to be true.

"I think we've both known it, but didn't really want to admit it." Harry told her. "I haven't seen Ron,"

"Harry, George was killed," Hermione said, still trying to stop the tears. Ginny looked very much the same as Hermione did.

"What? Ginny, I'm so sorry." He looked over to Ginny who now began crying even harder. "But I have to go, I'm running out of time…" Harry said, rubbing his scar. "I have to finish this once and for all."

Ginny quickly turned away and left. Hermione tried to follow after her, but Draco pulled her backwards. She turned to him, looking at her closely.

"Draco, let go." Hermione said.

"No," He shook his head. "You're not getting out of my sight again." He pulled her closer to him.

"Come on," She shook her head with a small smile.

Hermione pulled her hand away and pulled out Bellatrix's wand. She used it as the two continued fighting. It seemed to take hours for Harry to come back, though it wasn't exactly that long. But Hermione dreaded the moment when everyone stopped fighting to see Voldemort approach with his close army. Hagrid was standing among them, holding Harry who was limp in his arms. Ginny cried out so loudly that everyone could distinctively tell what who has screamed. Hermione stood, trying so hard not to cry, but it was far more difficult than she had imagined. Ron stood close beside her on the right hand side, while Draco stood to her left.

"Your little hero is dead!" Voldemort cried out as he laughed. "Here he is everyone! The boy who lived! Ha! He is dead!" He rejoiced so child-like. "Now, the rest of you will either join my side, or you will all die." He paused looking around, "Your choice,"

Some Slytherin's quickly rushed over to Voldemort and stood behind him with the rest of his army. The majority stayed, still not moving from their spots. They weren't about to give up that easily. Holding her wand even tighter, Hermione swallowed hard when she noticed that there were many eyes placed upon Draco. They expected him to move over, they knew that he would, yet he stayed next to her.

"Draco?" Voldemort watched, "Boy, you won't disappoint me, now will you? You have such potential, you know. I had such great plans for you. But you think you're too good for me, now don't you? You left this side for a filthy little mudblood like her?" He laughed and his army joined in. "You are such a foolish child, so naïve and young." He inched closer. "Didn't you have that unbreakable vow?"

"It's been broken." Draco muttered.

"Someone's killed your father?" Voldemort's eyes widened as he turned around to scan through his army.

"It was _her_!" Nacrissa pointed at Hermione.

"How adorable," Voldemort turned to Hermione. "What a sad, little love story. Especially because in the end, you both die."

Hermione bit her tongue as he raised his wand to her. All of a sudden, Harry sprang up from Hagrid's arms. All attention was turned towards him. Voldemort quickly rushed to Harry and the two began fighting and flying through the air and around Hogwarts. Everyone else soon began fighting again, and many more had killed. Biting her lip, Hermione tried not to think of her friends who were dying around her and tried to think about other things. She tried to imagine what life would be like after the war ended. She tried to figure out how classes would continue, who would become head master and where her journey would take her next. She wondered if Draco and her would last—and if so for exactly how long. She thought of anything that could get her just a moment worth of rest.

After a while more of fighting, a loud thud occurred, making everyone turn to the scene. Voldemort and Harry laid on the ground. But Harry was the only one who could pick himself back up. It was easy to see that he had won and that the war was finally over. But Hermione couldn't cheer or be happy. Instead, she turned over to see Draco who was walking towards her. He was smiling at first, happy that it had all came to an end. But as he got closer, his expression changed and instead became more worried and confused. Hermione tripped over her foot and put her hand over her stomach. Her knees gave way and she fell straight down and thankfully, into Draco's arm which caught her just in time.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in the Great Hall. A nurse had just finished bandaging up her waist. She had many pains throughout her body, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was to see Harry and Ron, and of course to see Draco. But as she looked around the only people who were there with her were Ron and Harry. She felt fear in the pit of her stomach really settling in. Could he have just left her there and went on? Pulling herself out of the hospital bed, Hermione watched the two boys carefully. Both of them rushed over to her and wrapped their arms around her. She gave them a smile of relief and a small laugh.

"Thought you were gone for a minute there," Harry said, "You had me worried."

Hermione just smiled.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a moment?" Harry pulled her away from Ron and more to the side of the room.

"Yeah, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," He nodded. "I just wanted you to know…that I'm thankful to have a friend like you. You went through so much, things I didn't even know. You have been there with me, through it all. And I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you, for not turning your back on me, for always trying to do what is best, thank you for still caring about me, even when I wasn't so caring towards you."

"You're my best friend, Harry. I'm always going to be there, no matter what." Hermione said, "And it's not all your fault. You were stressed, but everything's fine now. It's all over."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It just seems so strange. Voldemort's dead, he can't hurt us anymore. It just doesn't seem real yet to me." Harry crossed his arms. "Oh, and Draco is waiting out in the hall, just so you know. He didn't feel very comfortable with the idea of us all sitting in here waiting together."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled.

"Oh and Hermione," Harry stopped her once more.

"Yes?"

"I may never understand your love for him…but if he is who you truly love and he loves you back, I'm happy for you, regardless of anything else."

"Thank you," Hermione laughed, "I actually, really needed you to say that."

Ginny quickly appeared and pulled Harry aside. Hermione turned over to Ron for a split second. He had his hands in his pockets and he was looking mostly at the ground. But he turned his head up for a moment, so that their eyes crossed each other's paths. She gave him a smile and a nod before leaving the Great Hall. As she entered into the hallway, she saw Draco sitting down on the floor. It was evident that he had been waiting for quite a long time. He stood up as soon as he saw her and rushed forward to her. He gently put his arms around her to make sure he didn't hurt her and then held her close. Hermione came to weeping. This was the first time that he had held her in such a manner. It didn't matter who seen it, he didn't care and neither did she. Nothing was stopping them from being together, especially like this. And it was a feeling so bittersweet and overwhelming that she couldn't help but to let out a few more tears as time went on. The two stayed in each other's arms like that for a little bit longer before they decided to take a walk through what was left of Hogwarts. There was a lot of explaining that still needed to be done.

"I guess I'll never really understand." Hermione said to Draco as they paced what was left of the halls, "He thought that erasing my memory would be worse than making you kill me?"

"It's difficult to understand. But let's just say, it would be harder for me to live, knowing what I do now and you not remembering me at all." Draco said.

"I know exactly how that feels," Hermione breathed softly, thinking of her family who would never recognize her.

"Hermione," Luna appeared in front of her, giving her a hug.

"Are you alright?" Hermione examined the girl closely.

"Yeah, there's just some blood here and there. The nurses are trying to save the more critical wounds before little scratches like these." Luna explained.

"Those aren't little," Hermione disagreed. "I'm just glad it's all over now."

"Me too," Luna nodded, walking across the hall to find Neville waiting.

"Hey," Ron approached shortly after, pulling her aside away from Draco. "I just wanted to tell you that um, well...you know how you said I would never forgive you for what you did while we were apart?"

"Yes,"

"Well I do forgive you. And I'm sorry, for everything. I loved you since first year, it just took me until recently to figure that out. And it's a shame that it took me so long. But I really do love you, and though I can act so ridiculous and stupid sometimes, it's because I want you to love me back. But more than anything, I want you to be happy. And though I think it's psychotic, and it's unrealistic, I know that you are in love with Draco. And if that's who you love, then that's who you should be with." Ron said, looking down at the ground and then back to her.

"Thank you," Hermione said with a slight smile. She hugged him tightly. "And for what it's worth, I love you too, Ron."

"And I'm sorry, for not listening to you, for not giving you the benefit of the doubt. This whole time all I could think about was us...being together… it was as if nothing else even mattered. I was selfish, and I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Hermione said, "None of that matters anymore, okay? It's in the past, behind us." the two smiled at one another.

"I'm so sorry about George." Hermione added.

"Me too," Ron said, "I'm really worried about Fred, he blames himself for all this."

"It wasn't his fault." Hermione sighed, "I just can't imagine what he's going through."

"Yeah..."

When Ron left her, she turned around to see that Draco was still there. She walked closer to him.

"So now what?" Hermione asked.

"Hm?" He wondered.

"I mean, what's going to happen to us?" Hermione clarified.

"I don't know, Granger." Draco shook his head.

"Will you always call me Granger?" Hermione smiled in a teasing manner as she crossed her arms.

"I will call you Granger until the day comes when I can call you a Malfoy." Draco smiled.

"Draco," Hermione laughed.

"What?" He joined in with her.

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

And this is exactly how the beauty fell in love with the beast.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed the story and will be interested in reading a sequel! I am very excited to write a second story based off of this and I have many ideas. Once again, thank you all so incredibly much for reading/reviewing.


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